Autism: In-patient Care in Mental Health Hospitals

Baroness Browning Excerpts

Tuesday 14th November 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Markham (Con)]

I thank the noble Lord for his kind words about me; I understand the situation. The Government are committed to implementing those changes and we are looking for opportunities to introduce them. I understand his disappointment that the Bill is not in the current programme of legislation. What I am committed to doing is making sure that as many features as possible from the Bill are implemented through action on the ground; the care and treatment reviews are a vital part of that today. Following the report from the noble Baroness, Lady Hollins, we are also making sure that we have regular CQC reviews over the next few years. We are delivering good action in this space, but I understand his feelings.

[Baroness Browning (Con)]

My Lords, like the noble Lord, Lord Touhig, I am a vice-president of the National Autistic Society. I also remind the House of my interests in the register and my family interest in this subject. The reason why a lot of autistic people become in-patients in mental health hospitals is the lack of real understanding and training of healthcare professionals in that field. It is a lot better in the big conurbations than in the countryside. Autism is not a mental health condition but, as my noble friend the Minister will know, one of the problems that the Government will face if they are to help to get people out of these institutions is that, like the rest of us, people with autism can develop mental health conditions; autistic-related anxiety is a very common one. Psychologists—one finds more of them than psychiatrists out in the community—cannot prescribe; it has to be a psychiatrist who prescribes. Until you get the right number of trained professionals out in the community—namely, psychiatrists with a specialism in autism; it is no good having just your average jobbing psychiatrist—those people are doomed to stay. I urge my noble friend to look at the levels of availability for the right professionals, to release these people from the incarceration they should never have suffered in the first place.

[Lord Markham (Con)]

I and the whole House would agree with my noble friend that having the right people making the right assessments on the right place for those people to be treated is key to all this. We are rolling out training through the National Autism Trainer Programme, in which we have invested £20 million to ensure improvements in autistic diagnostic pathways and people’s capability to achieve them. We are now rolling out the Oliver McGowan training to over 1 million people and looking at rolling out stage 2. However, I agree with her that these actions are vital.