Please note this article contains details that some might find upsetting.

Nicholas is kept in, what can only be described as, solitary confinement, spending 24 hours a day in a windowless room. He’s not a criminal. In fact, the only reason he is treated like this, is because he is autistic and has learning disabilities. This is his care! And this is appalling.

Having been sectioned at 16, he has spent over ten years being moved to various units, hundreds of miles away from his family. The effect on him has been devastating and provides a clear example of the catastrophic breakdown in our social care system.

Baroness Hollins has led a four-year independent enquiry into the treatment of people with a learning disability and/or autistic people who are detained in mental health and specialist learning disability hospitals. The outcome from the enquiry is a report she has devastatingly called ‘My Heart Breaks’. Which, in itself, is a damning indictment of the current treatment of autistic people and those with learning disabilities.

What did Baroness Hollins look at?

She examined the cases of 191 people who authorities had detained under mental health legislation and placed in what the Government refers to as “long-term segregation”. Incidentally, a description she has called to be renamed to reflect what it actually is: solitary confinement. In her report she highlights a huge number of issues, stating: “We couldn’t find any one part of the sector to blame, there were failings everywhere.”

It’s been over 10 years since the Winterbourne scandal. And still there is no end to heart-breaking, horrific stories of people being locked up and detained in the name of care.

As we listened to Baroness Hollins, speaking to Channel 4 News, we couldn’t agree more. The Government’s lack of inclusion of a Mental Health Bill in the King’s speech was devastating. This simply cannot continue unaddressed; it is time for sweeping change.

What can we do?

The Code of Practice for the Mental Health Act 1983 was designed as a safeguard against such abuses. But it has been neglected by our government. It is outdated, and desperately needs to be reopened, reviewed and rewritten. As Baroness Hollins suggests, we would urge the Government to reopen this crucial code. Doing so, could protect vulnerable individuals from further harm.

You can read Nicholas’s story from the Independent here:

Listen to Baroness Hollins on Channel 4 News here.

And read her report in full here.