People with learning difficulties feel they don’t have enough control over their lives, according to a quarter of respondents in a Cumbria-wide survey.

One of the main points raised was that more could be done to involve them in decisions and choices that affect them personally.

The report from Healthwatch Cumbria (HWC) will be considered by the county council’s health scrutiny committee today.

Independent organisation HWC engaged with 540 people, talking to 120 face to face and another 109 filling out the survey, with top tier councillors set to discuss the findings.

Canvassers not only talked to people with learning difficulties but also to parents and carers, social workers and service providers to identify problems and find out what had changed.

The overall aim was to find out what is working and what is not, with the goal of improving services.

Families and carers also said they would like to see “better communication” between Adult Social Care and Health Services.

The survey also revealed that there was very little mention of “intimate relationships or friendships”- and more support was needed help people with learning difficulties form friendships, including a love life.

But there was good news too, with 92 per cent of those who responded to the survey saying they got the help they needed.

A further 60 per cent of people with learning difficulties had positive experiences of their health service.

However, about half of people with learning difficulties across Cumbria also said it was “hard to communicate with health professionals”, with some adding they had experienced problems getting to the doctor, to the dentist or to hospital.

Key findings were that cuts were having an impact on the level of service, and people felt they needed better travel options.

It was also revealed some employers in Cumbria were “worried” about taking on people with learning difficulties.

Some families said decisions took too long, they needed more support for respite care and that there was not always enough staff available to provide support because of funding cuts.

Estimates suggest there are 9,409 adults with learning difficulties in Cumbria.

There are 2,614 people of all ages who are on GP registers with a recorded learning disability.

In Cumbria there are 1,675 people in contact with Learning Disability and Autism Services.

1 in 5 Adult Social Care service users had a learning disability.

People with learning disabilities often have poorer health than the rest of the population. Of those people with learning disabilities 1 in 3 deaths is avoidable.