The University of Liverpool undergraduate nursing programme had the pleasure of welcoming Paula McGowan OBE to talk about her son and her campaigning to ensure all health and social care staff receive training regarding caring for people with a learning disability and/or autism.
Oliver Mcgowan died on 11th November, 2016 as a result of receiving medication which he had a known sensitivity towards. A report found that his death was avoidable and lessons could be learned. It was found that staff lacked the appropriate knowledge to care for Oliver and reasonable adjustments were not made to support him.
Due to her commitment in raising awareness and campaigning, the Oliver McGowan mandatory training received royal assessment and was passed into law on 28th April 2022. This means all health and social care staff will receive Oliver’s training and staff will receive tier 1 or tier 2 training dependant on their role.
At the event Paula strongly advocated support to reduce the inequalities that people with a learning disability and/or autism face. Such training is vitally important to help those in a health and social care profession.
Further information on the Oliver McGowan campaign is available at: https://www.olivermcgowan.org/
This project was funded by the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences Equality, Diversity, Inclusion & Wellbeing (EDIW) support budget.