To mark Learning Disability Week 2026, this episode of Voices for Safety explores a critical patient safety issue: the inequalities people with a learning disability face when accessing cancer care.

Host Dr Louise Gorman speaks with Dr Oliver Kennedy, an NIHR Clinical Lecturer at the University of Manchester and a Medical Oncologist at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, whose research uncovers stark inequalities across the cancer care pathway in the UK.

Drawing on a large-scale NIHR-funded study of over 180,000 people with learning disabilities, Dr Kennedy explains how they are less likely to be referred for specialist tests, more likely to be diagnosed at a later stage, and around half as likely to receive treatment, resulting in much shorter survival times.

Together, they explore why these gaps exist – from communication challenges and diagnostic overshadowing to systemic barriers in screening and treatment – and discuss what needs to change across prevention, diagnosis, and care to create a more equitable system.

Released during Learning Disability Week 2026, this episode highlights the urgent need for more inclusive, accessible healthcare systems and the importance of ensuring everyone can receive timely, effective, and safe cancer care.

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Meet the guest

Dr Oliver Kennedy is an NIHR Clinical Lecturer at the University of Manchester and a Medical Oncologist at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust. His research focuses on inequalities in cancer care among underserved groups, particularly people with learning disabilities. His recent findings reveal deficits across the whole pathway for this population, from screening rates through to treatment access and survival following diagnosis. He now aims to improve survival by widening access to treatment.

Related publications:

Bowel cancer care in individuals with an intellectual disability: a population-based cohort study of symptoms, diagnostic pathways, treatment and survival. Oliver John Kennedy, Umesh Chauhan, Louise Gorman, Paul Lorigan, Samuel W. D. Merriel, Antonia Perumal, Tjeerd Van Staa, Alison Wright & Darren Mark Ashcroft. BMC Medicine.

Prostate Cancer Care for Men with an Intellectual Disability: A Population-based Cohort Study of Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment, and Survival. Oliver John Kennedy, Umesh Chauhan, Louise Gorman, Paul Lorigan, Samuel W.D. Merriel, Tjeerd Van Staa, Alison Wright, Darren Mark Ashcroft. European Urology Oncology.

Cancer diagnoses, referrals, and survival in people with a learning disability in the UK: a population-based, matched cohort study. Oliver John Kennedy, Umesh Chauhan,Louise Gorman, Paul Lorigan, Samuel Merriel, Tjeerd Van Staa, Alison Wright, Darren Mark Ashcroft. The Lancet Regional Health.

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