Autism and Learning Disability: Social Services
(asked on 17th May 2023) - View Source
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Care Quality Commission's review entitled Out of sight – who cares?, published in October 2020, what steps his Department is taking to respond to that report's recommendations.
Answered by
Maria Caulfield
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
We welcomed the publication of the Care Quality Commission (CQC) report on the use of restraint, seclusion and segregation and published our response in July 2021, in which we accepted in full or in principle all recommendations for the Department. We are focused on ensuring all patients, including people with a learning disability and autistic people, receive safe and high-quality care.
In response to the recommendations made in the report, we have taken several actions including undertaking independent case reviews and introducing a Senior Intervenor pilot to help move individuals in the most restrictive settings towards discharge. We are carefully considering the outcomes of these programmes to inform our ongoing work.
We have also introduced the Use of Force Act which includes measures to both reduce the inappropriate use of force and to ensure accountability and transparency about the use of force in mental health units.
The CQC report recommended improved community support for people with a learning disability and autistic people and single Ministerial ownership of the actions taken. We published the Building the Right Support Action Plan in July 2022, which sets out actions to improve community support for people with a learning disability and autistic people. Progress is overseen by a cross-system, cross-Government Delivery Board, established to bring together all partners who can make change happen.
The draft Mental Health Bill, published on 27 June 2022, sets out our proposed reforms to help improve support for people with a learning disability and autistic people. As part of this work, we have committed to updating the Mental Health Act Code of Practice, including reviewing the definition of long-term segregation.