The appointment of a new learning disability director for NHS England will do little to help get people home from assessment and treatment units (ATUs), says a campaigning parent.
Isabelle Garnett says the appointment of Ray James to the new NHS England post will not break the logjam in ATUs caused by a “chronic lack of funding”.
Isabelle Garnett, pictured with husband Robin and son Matthew. She says the appointment of a new learning disability director for NHS England won’t break the logjam keeping people in ATUs
James has said he has the determination to overcome this impasse. Currently, the logjam means that almost 2,500 people remain in the units.
Garnett campaigned with husband Robin to get teenage son Matthew out of St Andrew’s Healthcare, in Northampton.
Face-down restraint 600 times in six months
St Andrew’s featured in a Channel 4 Dispatches documentary. The programme highlighted how St Andrew’s subjected people with learning disabilities to face-down restraint 600 times in just six months.
Matthew, who has severe autism and ADHD, is now thriving in a residential setting.
Garnett is a member of a social enterprise called Bringing Us Together.
The group aims to get people out of ATUs and prevent others entering them.
Garnett said: “The logjam Mr James describes has been caused by a chronic lack of funding across community services – education, social care, mental health and housing.”
Closing ATUs down
James, who takes up his new role in January, has a brief to do whatever is necessary to make progress on closing ATUs down.
He believes getting people out of the units requires a change in “hearts and minds”.
The intended purpose of ATUs was to provide short-term secure placements for people with learning disabilities. The idea was that the units would administer treatment before individuals move back into the community.
But the units are controversial and people can live in them for years.
Related:
- Lamb distressed at face-down restraint
- Parents fight assessment/treatment units
- Centre pins patients face down 600 times
Published: 2 January 2018
