Scottish death toll of autism, learning disability patients

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FOURTEEN patients with autism or learning disabilities have died since 2015 while detained in psychiatric facilitiesin Scotland, figures reveal.

The statistics were released for the first time by Public Health Scotland (PHS) following a parliamentary question by Scottish Conservative MSP Alexander Burnett, who has campaigned to end the “national scandal” of otherwise healthy people being locked up for months or years due to a lack of community-based support.

The PHS report does not detail the causes of death, but does show that seven of the deaths occurred in patients who had been resident at an inpatient psychiatric facility for between 91 and 365 days, with six (43 per cent) in patients whose stay had exceeded at least one year.

Six of the 14 patients were aged 65 or older, three were aged 55-64, four were aged 45-54, and one was under 45.

In February, the Scottish Government vowed in its ‘Coming Home Implementation’ report to “greatly reduce” long hospital stays and out-of-area residential placements for people with learning difficulties or complex needs by March 2024.

It came after reports of some autistic people spending five or more years in psychiatric units despite being deemed fit for discharge.