ITV News story highlights the impact of detaining people with a learning disability and autistic people in hospital
An investigation by ITV shows that people with a learning disability and autistic people who are detained under the Mental Health Act are subject to restraint and overmedication
On Monday (14th July), ITV News highlighted the story of Josh, who has a learning disability and is autistic, and his parents Sara and Garry.
Due to a lack of the right support available in the community, Josh, who is now 21, was sectioned under the Mental Health Act and has been detained in hospital for the past 4 years. During this time, he has been restrained and overmedicated. In one of the hospitals, which has since been closed down, he was abused.
Josh is one of many people with a learning disability and autistic people who have been detained under the Mental Health Act, not because they need to be in hospital, but because they are unable to access the right support in their community and there is nowhere else for them to go. As the report highlights, all targets to reduce the number of people with a learning disability and autistic people who are detained in hospital have been missed. There are currently over 2000 people with a learning disability and/or who are autistic who are detained in hospital.
Josh is still detained in hospital, and there is no date for when he will be able to go home. Bringing people home from hospital should be a priority for all ICBs whose residents are inappropriately detained, and Josh’s local ICB should be working hard to bring him home and to support him to recover from the abuse, overmedication and restraint he has experienced.
In response to the report, Wes Streeting (the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care) stated that Josh and his family’s experiences were wrong and cruel, and that under the new NHS 10 Year Plan’s aim to shift care from hospitals to the community, people with learning disabilities and autistic people like Josh – who are currently “hospitalised with no reason” – should be able to live in the community with the right support.
We welcome the recognition from the Secretary of State that it is wrong for people with a learning disability and autistic people to be detained under the Mental Health Act for years, even when – as in Josh’s case – medical professionals have stated that they do not need to be there. We also support the aims of the Mental Health Bill, which is currently going through Parliament, and which will change the law so that people with a learning disability and autistic people can no longer be detained under section 3 of the Mental Health Act if they do not have a mental health condition.
However, families, The Challenging Behaviour Foundation and other campaigners have been raising with Ministers for many months the concerns set out in this coverage. There is not a published plan to deliver community support and there is no plan for how one will be developed. Given that the government have stated that they will not enact the section of the Mental Health Bill that prevents people with a learning disability and autistic people without a mental health condition from being detained until strong community support is in place, it is imperative that there is a clear pathway – and funding – for how this will be achieved. Without this, people will continue to be detained in hospitals, often far away from their families and homes. A plan for developing community support, co-produced with people with lived experience and their families, is essential if this human rights abuse is to be ended.
Jacqui Shurlock, CEO at The Challenging Behaviour Foundation said:
Josh and his family should never have had to go through the trauma they have encountered in the past four years. The Secretary of State has recognised that this is wrong and cruel. We hope he will meet families, to better understand the systemic issues which lead to inappropriate detention so he can put these right and make the shift from hospital to community for people with learning disabilities.
You can read a write up of this coverage here
Support from the CBF
Resources on our website
The CBF has information available for anyone who has concerns about the issues raised which can be found here:
Family Support Service
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this report, you can call the Family Support Service on 0300 666 0126
Or email us at support@thecbf.org.uk
We are open at the following times:
Monday – Thursday: 9am – 5pm
Friday: 9am – 3pm
We offer information about challenging behaviour to anyone who provides support to a child, young person or adult with a severe learning disability. We can also signpost you to other specialist organisations and sources of information.
Please note we are a small support service so you may not be able to get support straight away. We will support families with urgent concerns as a priority.
Professionals are also welcome to contact the CBF.