How many people do family doctors know about who have learning disability?

Family doctors are asked to keep registers of the people on their list who have learning disabilities. Each year the Department of Health asks them how many people are on their list.

We have added up the total of these numbers for each NHS Primary Care Trust area. Some places appear to have a lot more people with learning disabilities than others.

London and the areas around have smaller numbers of people with learning disabilities. The North East, the North West and the South West have higher numbers.

Latest 2010/11 data will be added soon.

Description based on 2009/10 data. GPs are recognising more people - 4.2 in every thousand this year, up from 3.7 last year. The biggest rises were in the East of England (up by 24%), Yorkshire and Humber (19%) and The North East, East Midlands and London, all up 15%. The highest rate of people with learning disabilities known to their GP was still in the North East (5.6 per 1000), followed by the South West (4.9), Yorkshire and the Humber (4.6) and the North West, East and West Midlands (all 4.5 per 1000). The lowest figures are London (3.1) and South Central (3.5).

We have made maps and charts to show how these numbers vary around the country. You can see these by clicking on the map below.