People with learning disabilities suffer an increase in common morbidity, communication difficulties, a high prevalence of serious conditions such as epilepsy, and specific patterns of health needs associated with the aetiology of their disability.Unfortunately, this combination of need is mirrored by a consistent picture of poor health promotion uptake, inadequate care for serious morbidity, unrecognised health need and poor access to health care. Consequently, there is a great disparity between the health of learning-disabled people and that of the general population.