Autism and Learning Disability: Mental Health Services

(asked on 16th October 2023) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people with (a) autism and (b) a learning disability reside in a mental health inpatient unit that has most recently been rated as inadequate by the CQC; and for how many of those people have additional (i) safeguards and (ii) mitigations been put in place to monitor their (A) safety, (B) wellbeing and (C) treatment.


Answered by
Maria Caulfield Portrait
Maria Caulfield
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
This question was answered on 26th October 2023

The latest published Assuring Transformation data shows that there are 80 people with a learning disability and autistic people reported in a mental health inpatient setting which the Care Quality Commission (CQC) rates as inadequate. This is based on inpatient data at the end of August 2023, and CQC inspection ratings as of 2 October 2023.

Where, by exception, a person with a learning disability or autistic person is admitted into a setting rated as inadequate at the point of admission, additional safeguards and mitigations should be put in place. NHS England has established a process whereby any such admission should be notified to the relevant integrated care bord (ICB) Chief Executive Officer, National Health Service regional team and Host Commissioner and reported as an exception to the ICB Quality Board or equivalent. Information on specific safeguards and mitigations for individuals is not held centrally.

Each person with a learning disability and autistic person in a mental health hospital should have regular Care (Education) and Treatment Reviews in line with national policy.

Commissioner Oversight Guidance was published in February 2021, which sets out that people with a learning disability and autistic people who are in hospital outside their local area will be visited by the commissioner of their care regularly every six weeks for children and every eight weeks for adults.

In June 2023, we updated the Host Commissioner Guidance, this guidance sets out expectations for ICBs to act as a ‘host’ commissioner to provide additional oversight of care in mental health hospitals in their geographical area, where people with a learning disability and autistic people are cared for.

Reticulating Splines