The mother of a man with autism and ADHD is fighting to get her son out of a mental health hospital he shares with murderers and rapists.
Tracey Gibbon’s son Kyle, 31, has been held at high-security hospital Carstairs, in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, for nine years.
Kyle Gibbon, who has been held at mental health hospitals since he was 18
Gibbon alleges Kyle is being detained for “behavioural” issues.
She believes her son is trapped. Staff justify keeping him at Carstairs on behavioural grounds, but his mother alleges his detention is causing the problems.
Crowdfunding an independent review
Gibbon says to get his case re-examined, she will have to pay for an independent review costing £3,000. She is crowdfunding.
Gibbon alleges her son has endured harmful restraints at Carstairs. One incident earlier this year left him with a broken rib and another a broken arm, says Gibbon.
When his arm was broken Gibbon says medics told her it “would have been like he had been in a car crash”.
Gibbon says her son does not have a criminal record and she has pleaded with Carstairs staff not to “treat him like he’s a monster”.
Kyle taken to mental health hospital after school
The 56-year-old mother from Aberdeenshire said Kyle was first taken to a mental health hospital after leaving school.
Gibbon says social services told her that her son should be assessed to work out the community services he needed. He has never left hospital since then.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said restraint should be a “last resort”.
They are looking at whether new measures are needed for people with learning disabilities and autism.
Also, a recent Mental Welfare Commission report found patients at Carstairs were “treated respectfully by staff”.
Kyle’s arm after it was broken at Carstairs
To donate visit: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/tracey-gibbon
Related:
- Families wait for action on segregation
- Nearly 50 dead in long-stay hospitals
- ‘Abject failure’ of hospital plan
- Independent medics sent into hospital
- Hospital placed in special measures
- Huge surge in hospitals using restraint
- Social workers aim to cut hospital stays
- Hospital brought out of special measures
- Still stuck in mental health hospitals
- Spotlight on hospital care
Published: 10 June 2019
