Changes in the law alone will not end the “human rights scandal” of autistic people being held in mental health hospitals for years.
That is the warning from the National Autistic Society (NAS) as the UK Government promises key reforms through its new Mental Health Bill.
Scandal: more than 2,000 autistic and learning disabled people are still held in long-term mental health hospitals
The NAS insists the Bill now going through Parliament could prevent autistic people from being detained in hospitals purely because of their autism.
Classed as a mental health condition
Under current laws, autism is classed as a mental health condition. This means it can be used as a reason to detain someone in hospital.
The NAS says the new Bill removes the description of autism as a mental health condition.
The latest NHS figures show there are 2,040 autistic and learning-disabled people in mental health hospitals.
‘Human rights scandal’
The average length of stay in these hospitals is around five years. While there, patients are very vulnerable to being over-medicated, restrained and put in solitary confinement, says the NAS.
The charity says this is a “human rights scandal”.
It maintains that investment in community services must go hand-in-hand with the Government’s planned legal reforms.
Investing in support
Tim Nicholls is the NAS’s assistant director of policy.
He said: “Changing the law is just part of what’s needed.
“Without investing in making sure that the right support is available everywhere, autistic people will still face this inequality.”
Looking to the new law
Health Secretary Wes Streeting has said current mental health law is “hugely outdated, depriving people of their liberty, especially autistic people and people with a learning disability”.
The Department of Health and Social Care says the new law will limit the time someone with autism or a learning disability can be detained if they do not have a co-occurring mental health condition and have not committed a crime.
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Published: 13 January 2025
