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Background People with learning disabilities have higher rates of admitted patient care than the general population. This study explored emergency hospital admissions during 2018/19 in association with learning disability health check recording in general practice within the Kent Integrated Dataset during 2016/17 to 2018/19. Methods Multiple logistic regression evaluated the odds of emergency hospital admission by sex, age, deprivation, residence, risk score, long-term conditions, severe health needs and health check. During 2018/19, one or more emergency hospital admissions were recorded for 10.9% of the 5,759 persons recorded with learning disability. Results There were lower odds of emergency hospital admission in persons having had learning disability health check in the past 3 years even after adjustment. Conclusions Comparison to nationally representative research suggests a consistent finding of benefit from learning disability health check on indicators of unplanned care use, supporting the view that learning disability health checks facilitate the addressing of key health needs.

A strict and lifelong gluten-free diet is the only available treatment for coeliac disease. Removal of gluten from the diet involves elimination of gluten-containing staple foods. Without appropriate replacement, this change can result in a person's restricted and unbalanced dietary intake and may affect nutritional status. Therefore, alongside dietetic referral and advice, access to gluten-free staples is vital. Although gluten-free substitute foods are available in supermarkets, the significantly higher cost and limited availability in some cases, necessitates a system of support to safeguard individuals with coeliac disease. More importantly, the prescribing of gluten-free staples has been shown to promote adherence to the gluten-free diet, which in turn helps to avoid associated health complications. Therefore, there is a continuing need for the Department of Health and UK government to support the prescribing of gluten-free staple foods.