Asked by: Ann Clwyd (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many young people with autism placed in secure accommodation in England in 2018-2019 were held in seclusion.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The data is not held centrally in the format requested.
The NHS Long Term Plan commits to achieving at least a 50% reduction in the number of people with a learning disability or autism who are inpatients in mental health hospitals by 2023/24. The NHS Planning Guidance requires a 35% reduction as soon as possible in 2019/20.
In May 2019, the Care Quality Commission published their thematic review interim report regarding the use of restrictive interventions in settings that provide inpatient and residential care for people with, or who might have, mental health problems, learning disabilities and/or autism. We accepted all the recommendations and will undertake independent reviews of the care of everyone with a learning disability or autism detained in long-term segregation.
The Mental Health Units (Use of Force) Act 2018 applies in relation to the use of force (restraint) in mental health units which provide National Health Service-funded treatment.
The aim of the Act is to bring more rigour and accountability around the recording, reporting and training of staff in the use of force in mental health units, with a view to reducing the use of restrictive practices.
The Act applies to all patients, children, young people and adults, who are being assessed or receiving treatment in a mental health unit.
Asked by: Ann Clwyd (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of young people with autism placed in secure beds in hospitals since October 2015.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Assuring Transformation (AT) dataset provides data on the numbers of people with a learning disability and/or autism receiving inpatient care commissioned by the National Health Service in England. The AT dataset does not cover other secure settings such as young offender institutions or secure children’s homes.
According to the AT dataset, the number of inpatients under the age of 18 with autism in a secure hospital ward between 1 April 2018 and 31 March 2019 was 70.
The following table shows the number of inpatients under the age of 18 with autism in a secure hospital ward by year, from 1 October 2015 to 30 September 2019, according to the AT dataset.
Date | Number of inpatients* |
1 October 2015 – 30 September 2016 | 60 |
1 October 2016 – 30 September 2017 | 45 |
1 October 2017 – 30 September 2018 | 70 |
1 October 2018 – 30 September 2019 | 70 |
|
|
Note:
The Assuring Transformation collection covers England, but includes patients whose care is commissioned in England and provided elsewhere in the UK. These figures represent the number of patients who are receiving inpatient care at the end of each month. Figures have not been revised with more recent information, but show the position at the end of each month as extracted from the system at that time.
Values have been rounded to the nearest five to minimise disclosure risks associated with small numbers.
Some patients have not been formally diagnosed with either a learning disability or autism but remain in the collection as they are understood to fall under one of these categories and as such were returned by data submitters.
The above table includes patients who are under 18 at the start of the reporting year but may have turned 18 during the year.
Inpatients may appear across more than one year.
Asked by: Ann Clwyd (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many young people with autism placed in secure accommodation in England in 2015 were held in seclusion.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The data is not held centrally in the format requested.
The NHS Long Term Plan commits to achieving at least a 50% reduction in the number of people with a learning disability or autism who are inpatients in mental health hospitals by 2023/24. The NHS Planning Guidance requires a 35% reduction as soon as possible in 2019/20.
In May 2019, the Care Quality Commission published their thematic review interim report regarding the use of restrictive interventions in settings that provide inpatient and residential care for people with, or who might have, mental health problems, learning disabilities and/or autism. We accepted all the recommendations and will undertake independent reviews of the care of everyone with a learning disability or autism detained in long-term segregation.
The Mental Health Units (Use of Force) Act 2018 applies in relation to the use of force (restraint) in mental health units which provide National Health Service-funded treatment.
The aim of the Act is to bring more rigour and accountability around the recording, reporting and training of staff in the use of force in mental health units, with a view to reducing the use of restrictive practices.
The Act applies to all patients, children, young people and adults, who are being assessed or receiving treatment in a mental health unit.
Asked by: Ann Clwyd (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many young people with autism were placed in secure accommodation in 2018-19.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Assuring Transformation (AT) dataset provides data on the numbers of people with a learning disability and/or autism receiving inpatient care commissioned by the National Health Service in England. The AT dataset does not cover other secure settings such as young offender institutions or secure children’s homes.
According to the AT dataset, the number of inpatients under the age of 18 with autism in a secure hospital ward between 1 April 2018 and 31 March 2019 was 70.
The following table shows the number of inpatients under the age of 18 with autism in a secure hospital ward by year, from 1 October 2015 to 30 September 2019, according to the AT dataset.
Date | Number of inpatients* |
1 October 2015 – 30 September 2016 | 60 |
1 October 2016 – 30 September 2017 | 45 |
1 October 2017 – 30 September 2018 | 70 |
1 October 2018 – 30 September 2019 | 70 |
|
|
Note:
The Assuring Transformation collection covers England, but includes patients whose care is commissioned in England and provided elsewhere in the UK. These figures represent the number of patients who are receiving inpatient care at the end of each month. Figures have not been revised with more recent information, but show the position at the end of each month as extracted from the system at that time.
Values have been rounded to the nearest five to minimise disclosure risks associated with small numbers.
Some patients have not been formally diagnosed with either a learning disability or autism but remain in the collection as they are understood to fall under one of these categories and as such were returned by data submitters.
The above table includes patients who are under 18 at the start of the reporting year but may have turned 18 during the year.
Inpatients may appear across more than one year.