MPs demand end to autistic people being detained for years

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Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt, who chairs the Commons Health and Social Care Committee, said it is a "national shame" that "far too many" people are still being detained.

In a new report, the committee said individuals can be subjected to "intolerable treatment" at inpatient facilities, including "abusive restrictive practices".

It added that autistic people and those with learning difficulties can be kept for "long periods of time in facilities that do not meet their needs" and kept long distances from family and friends, and it wants all new long-term admissions to institutions to be banned except for forensic cases.

The committee warned that the "fatal misunderstanding" that people are treated as if their conditions are illnesses rather than a fundamental part of their identity means they often then develop mental or physical illnesses which are then used to justify their detention.

It added that there is a "shocking" six-year average length of stay in assessment and treatment units.

The Committee also wants to see assessment and treatment Units closed within two years, and the "immediate action on the use of restrictive practices by staff".

It claims some descriptions of the use of physical restraint and long-term segregation in in-patient facilities are not "worthy of a 21st century healthcare system" and bespoke community care should be offered instead of individuals being detained in hospitals.