As published in The Independent: https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/letters/boris-johnson-downing-street-b1987337.html
Dear Editor,
Half a billion pounds per year of public money is being spent on inpatient units for people with a
learning disability
A learning disability is to do with the way someone's brain works. It makes it harder for someone to learn, understand or do things.
and autistic people. This money is buying the wrong kind of care in settings where we know people are at an increased risk of
abuse
Abuse is when someone bullies you and does or says something to you that makes you feel hurt, upset or scared.
and
neglect
Neglect is when you are not being cared for or supported.
. This must end and instead better care delivered where people live to achieve better outcomes and to give people better lives.
Tireless campaigning by people with a learning disability, autistic people, and families of children and adults shut away in inpatient units has seen
the Government
The Government are the people who run the country. The Government decide how much
tax
Tax is the money that pays for things like schools, hospitals and the police. There are different types of taxes like
income tax
Income tax is the money that is taken out of the money you earn every month. It helps to pay for things we all need like hospitals and schools.
,
VAT
VAT is also called Value Added Tax. VAT is the extra money you pay when you buy things. The money goes to the government to pay for things like schools and hospitals.
and
council tax
Council
A council is also called a
local authority
A local authority is also called a council. They are a group of people who make decisions about some of the things in the area where you live like schools,
social care
Social care means the services that give care and support to people who need it.
(support for people), parks and dustbin collection.
. They are a group of people who make decisions about some of the things in the area where you live. These include: schools, social care (support for people), parks and dustbin collection.
Tax is the money that people pay to the
council
A council is also called a
local authority
A local authority is also called a council. They are a group of people who make decisions about some of the things in the area where you live like schools,
social care
Social care means the services that give care and support to people who need it.
(support for people), parks and dustbin collection.
. They are a group of people who make decisions about some of the things in the area where you live. These include: schools, social care (support for people), parks and dustbin collection.
. It helps to pay for things like social care (support for people), parks and dustbin collection.
.
people should pay and how things like the National Health
Service
A service gives people what they need, like healthcare services that help people when they are ill, and support services that give people support.
(
NHS
The NHS is the National Health Service. The NHS gives free healthcare to everyone in the UK and includes things like your GP (doctors) surgery and hospitals.
) should work.
now commit to publishing an Action Plan in the first part of 2022: setting out the actions that will be taken across social care, health, housing, and
education
Education is when you learn things. When you fill in a form to get a job, education means you write where you went to school, college or university.
to meet their latest target of closing 50% of inpatient beds by March 2024.
The Government has repeatedly promised to ‘Transform Care’ for people with a learning disability and autistic people since the Winterbourne View scandal in 2011. Yet this shocking
human rights
Human
rights
Rights are the things everyone should be allowed to do like have a say, or go to school.
are the rights that everyone has. These include the right to go to school and the right to start a family.
scandal continues - where people with a learning disability and autistic people are being locked away in inpatient mental health units, often for many years – because of a lack of the right
community
A community is the people and places in an area.
support and not because the person actually needs inpatient mental health care.
Early last month an independent review was published into the death of Clive Treacey, a man with a learning disability who died in an inpatient unit in 2017. This also came after a Safeguarding Adults Review published on 9th September into the deaths of three young adults with a learning disability and/or a diagnosis of
autism
Autism is a disability. Autistic people find it difficult to understand what other people think and feel. They also find it difficult to tell people what they think and feel. Everyone with autism is different.
, between 2018 and 2020 at Cawston Park inpatient unit in Norfolk. Both these reviews are devastating, shocking and show clearly how the individuals
involved
Involved is being included in something or taking part in something.
have been so fundamentally failed by the system supposed to be caring for them.
The recommendations made in these reviews and numerous other reports over the last ten years - including by the Joint Committee on Human Rights (2019) as well as reports by the Health and Care Select Committee and the review into seclusion chaired by Baroness Hollins both published last summer – are consistent. They could not emphasise more strongly the need for the development of the right support, services and suitable housing in the community to support individuals with a learning disability and autistic people and their families, and prevent inappropriate admission or readmission to inpatient units.
The latest NHS data shows there are currently 2,085 people with a learning disability and/or who are autistic in inpatient units, including 200 children. The average length of stay of those currently in units is 5.4 years, with 355 people having been in more than 10 years. Recent media investigations have shown a significant number have been in for over 20 years, and that 75 people have died in inpatient units since 2015.
In 2021 alone there were at least 1,285 admissions of people with a learning disability and/or who are autistic to inpatient units. There have been at least 37,380 incidences of restrictive interventions such as chemical and physical restraint in inpatient units (this this is likely to be a huge underestimate due to low reporting from inpatient providers). This cannot continue.
The Government’s Action Plan must be a credible, evidence based, robust and detailed plan which redirects the half a billion pounds currently being spent on the wrong type of care and takes immediate steps to develop the right community support to enable people with a learning disability and autistic people to lead fulfilling lives in the community and to end this scandal once and for all.
Yours sincerely,
Jackie O’Sullivan, Executive Director, Mencap
Viv Cooper OBE, Chief Executive, The Challenging Behaviour Foundation
Julie Newcombe, Co-Founder, Rightful Lives
Caroline Stevens, Chief Executive, The National Autistic Society (NAS)
Wendy Burt, Scott Watkin BEM, Jordan Smith, Co Chairs Members’
Representative
A representative is also called a rep. A representative is someone who speaks up for everyone in their group or team.
Body, Learning Disability England (LDE)