From the BBC:
“100 people held more than 20
years in ‘institutions’”
One hundred people with learning
disabilities and autism in England have been held in specialist hospitals for
at least 20 years, the BBC has learned. The finding was made during an
investigation into the case of an autistic man detained since 2001. Tony
Hickmott's parents are fighting to get him housed in the community near them. BBC
News overturned a court order which had prevented reporting of the case. Mr
Hickmott's case is being heard at the Court of Protection - which makes
decisions on financial or welfare matters for people who "lack mental
capacity". Senior Judge Carolyn Hilder has described "egregious"
delays and "glacial" progress in finding him the right care package which
would enable him to live in the community. He lives in a secure Assessment and
Treatment Unit (ATU) - designed to be a short-term safe space used in a crisis.
It is a two-hours' drive from his family. This week, Judge Hilder lifted the
anonymity order on Mr Hickmott's case - ruling it was in the public interest to
let details be reported. She said he had been "detained for so long"
partly down to a "lack of resources". Like many young autistic people
with a learning disability, Mr Hickmott struggled as he grew into an adult. In
2001, he was sectioned under the Mental Health Act. He is now 44.
(Pam and Roy Hickmott)
"Nine months we were told
he'd be away, until they found him a suitable place in the Brighton area,"
says his father, 78-year-old Roy. Mr Hickmott was finally declared "fit
for discharge" by psychiatrists in 2013, but he is still waiting for the
authorities to find him a suitable home with the right level of care for his
needs. "If he'd murdered someone he'd be out now. He's lost his family,
he's lost his home," says his mother Pam, who is 81. "He's just a
shadow of the human he used to be. There are so many families like us - crying
and screaming. We are our children's voices." His Assessment and Treatment
Unit care is paid for by the NHS - but the cost of housing and caring for him
in the community with trained staff would fall to Pam and Roy's local
authority, Brighton and Hove, and local NHS commissioners. That process has
been bogged down in delays and wrangles. Pam believes the delays are over
funding. "We've got judges telling them to get on with it but they're
still not doing it, they're still fighting over the money." Finding
suitable housing with skilled support staff can be a complicated process. But
Mr Hickmott's family argue it should have been put in place a long time ago.
Pam and Roy's home is full of
photographs showing their son in happier times. Birthday parties, smiling with
his two sisters, holidaying with his mum and dad. The couple used to visit him
twice a week - although, now they are that bit older, they just travel up on a
Thursday. "I've gone through three cars traveling to and fro," says
Roy. "Sometimes Pam and I travel back and pull in at the side of the road
and we just cry." Six evenings a week - at 17:00 - they speak to their son
on the phone. "He describes all the rooms in our house. His memory of his
home is all he's got," says Pam. During past visits to the ATU, Pam says
they drew pictures of a house with a garden by the sea. She would tell her son
he would be home soon. "He doesn't believe us any more. He doesn't believe
he's coming home."
(Pam and Roy Hickmott's family
photos including Tony)
In addition to the 100 patients,
including Mr Hickmott, who have been held for more than 20 years - there are
currently nearly 2,000 other people with learning difficulties and/or autism
detained in specialist hospitals across England. In 2015, the Government
promised "homes not hospitals" when it launched its Transforming Care
programme in the wake of the abuse and neglect scandal uncovered by the BBC at
Winterbourne View specialist hospital near Bristol. But data shows the
programme has had minimal impact. Ministers pledged to reduce the number of
patients in such hospital settings by 35% by March 2020, with the aim of people
being back in their communities with tailored support packages. But, by March
last year, there were only 300 fewer patients detained - a reduction of just
13%. The 35% target has now slipped to 2023/24. It was further BBC News
analysis of this official data which revealed that of 350 people detained for
more than a decade, 100 of them have been in hospital settings for more than
two decades.
Numbers of people with
learning disabilities and/or autism in inpatient units in England:
March 2015 - 2,395
March 2020 - 2,095
October 2021 - 2,070
Last month, crossbench peer Baroness Hollins - who has been reviewing long-term segregated care - told the House of Lords it was time to "end the scandals" and give people back their lives. But she also spoke of another man - Mr W - held largely in solitary confinement for 20 years but who, for the past three years, had lived around the corner from his parents. "Despite still recovering from the trauma, he is now happy," she said. This is what Roy and Pam Hickmott want. The author of the Serious Case Review into what happened at Winterbourne View, Dr Margaret Flynn told us the "institutions" detaining people like Tony should not exist. "It's appalling. These people are not criminals. They are stuck, just as people used to be stuck in long-stay institutions." She says there is so much testimony from people with a learning disability and/or autism - and their families - about "harmful experiences" when they are removed from "all that is familiar to them".
Judge Hilder - who has allowed
Tony Hickmott's case to be reported following an application by the BBC and Sky
News - has ordered the authorities involved in his care to work together to
move him back to Brighton by May. In a statement, Brighton and Hove Council
said: "Tony has extremely complex needs. We've tried on a number of
occasions to find a sustainable solution nearer to Brighton… these were not
successful." The council says it is working with the NHS and Mr Hickmott's
family to find other options. NHS England in the South East says it is
continuing to work with partner organisations - and Roy and Pam Hickmott - to
ensure "appropriate care and support is in place".
^ This is such a disgusting abuse
of power by the NHS and others in holding the Disabled “hostage” for 20 plus
years. One can only hope that the same people and authorities that let people like
Tony down will one day need assistance themselves and won’t get it for 20 plus
years. Tony and all the others being denied the correct help they deserve need to be given the right treatment now. The NHS and the British Government have already failed them for the past 20 years. It's time to fix those mistakes and make things right. ^
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