(photo courtesy of Herald Scotland : First Minister Nicola Sturgeon MSP opening a £6m extension to the SPCA rescue centre in Glasgow in December 2016. Does the First Minister care more for stray animals than for the human citizens of her country?)
Dear Friends & Supporters
With Tony Hickmott's 20-year incarceration in hospital making headline news in England and airing on breakfast television, I have written again to Nicola Sturgeon MSP to challenge her own Government's inaction over similar cases in Scotland.
Below is the email which I have sent, and the response which I got from the Scottish Government the last time I sent our Petition in July 2021.
The 4 mothers on whom our campaign focuses are presently at a sensitive stage in legal proceedings or negotiations with the detaining hospitals. They are reluctant to create publicity which might jeopardise whatever progress is being made. We hope to provide more information about them in the New Year.
Meanwhile please as usual continue to recommend our Petition to Family & Friends, especially those in Scotland, and to SHARE it on social media.
With grateful thanks for your support
Barry Gale Mental Health Rights Scotland
Link to our Petition : Release people from secure hospitals who don't need to be there
https://chng.it/JkGjf9Qh
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To : Nicola Sturgeon MSP, First Minister for Scotland
cc : Humza Yousaf MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Health & Social Care
cc : Kevin Stewart MSP, Minister for Mental Wellbeing & Social Care
Dear First Minister
Literally, you do not know what you are talking about.
On 7 July 2021 I sent you our petition, "Release people from secure hospitals who don't need to be there." On 2 August Nicola Watson, of your Government's Mental Health Law & Incapacity Unit, responded on your behalf as attached (your reference 202100221786).
Ms Watson wrote :
I notice the petition suggests people are detained at the State Hospital unnecessarily and I wanted to offer some reassurance around this point.
She went on to explain at length the policies and safeguards which prevent this from happening.
However we know that this is happening! The parents of these patients are among us and have had to live through this nightmare for years.
They know that their adult children are losing hope and getting worse in this hospital. They see it every time they visit - if they are allowed to visit. They know that their adult children could be cared for safely at home - they have provided such care themselves since childbirth and are 'experts by experience.' They know that the hospital is turning a deaf ear to what they have to say and to offer - just as you are doing.
It is happening at other hospitals also. At a time when historical advances in Human Rights are high on the national agenda, Scotland's hospitals and social services are stuck in the Dark Ages.
Does Ms Watson know better than these parents? Has she visited these hospitals and these patients to see for herself? Does she have a family member in The State Hospital? Has she fought an unsuccessful legal battle for years, desperately trying to get her offspring out of a hostile prison where they are restrained and drugged, back into the warmth of the family home? Have you?
All that Ms Watson is doing is repeating what she has been told by those who are responsible for this inhumane treatment.
Literally, First Minister, neither you - nor Ms Watson - know what you are talking about.
Our impression is that you don't want to know. That you deny this is happening. That you are not willing to raise a finger to do anything about it.
In December 2016 you First Minister opened a £6m extension to the SPCA rescue centre in Glasgow. You got your photo into the media holding a cute puppy. You boasted about the Scottish Government's commitment to strengthening legislation to protect and promote animal welfare.
Do you care more for animals than you do for the human citizens of this country, First Minister?
For years you have delayed bringing in new legislation to address the scandalous treatment of patients who are unnecessarily imprisoned in Scottish hospitals. Many of whom have autism or learning disability. People like Tony Hickmott.
Year after year you launch consultations and reviews to hear from those with Lived Experience and to put their views 'Front and Centre.' But you avoid listening, making decisions, taking action.
Do these people have to spend the rest of their lives incarcerated in hospitals, deprived of their freedom and family life, because you will do nothing to stop it?
Attached once more is our Petition, signed by 1601 supporters who agree that this situation is unacceptable.
With respect First Minister, when will you listen to these patients and their distraught families? When will you take seriously what they are telling you, and do something to address this national scandal?
Sincerely
Barry Gale
Mental Health Rights Scotland
...
campaigning for human rights in the mental health system
https://www.facebook.com/Mental-Health-Rights-Scotland-589379581518071
https://twitter.com/RightsScotland
Link to our Petition : Release people from secure hospitals who don't need to be there
https://chng.it/JkGjf9Qh
Herald Scotland, 21 December 2016
https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/14979809.nicola-sturgeon-overcomes-dog-phobia-opening-new-scottish-scpa-centre-glasgow/
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Our Reference: 202100221786
Your Reference: Release people from secure hospitals who don't need to be there
2 August 2021
Dear Barry Gale,
Thank you for your email dated 7th July 2021. As a member of the Mental Health Law & Incapacity Unit. I have been asked to respond.
The Scottish Government does recognise that there are challenges locally and nationally around management of complex care. There has been an awareness that out of area placements and delayed
discharge for individuals with complex care are not in the best interest of individuals or their families and this was made clear in Dr Anne MacDonald’s Coming Home Report, commissioned by the Scottish
Government.
While the events of Coronavirus have regrettably stalled progress in some areas, our commitment on this particular issue has not faltered. You may be aware that a Short Life Working Group (SLWG) was
established by the Cabinet Secretary for Health in March 2020 to improve delayed discharge and reduce inappropriate out of area placements for people with complex needs. This group has explored a
wide range of topics from legislative to commissioning barriers and has looked at examples of best practice.
We know that hospital is not a home and we are committed to reducing the number of people with complex needs being admitted into inpatient mental health services. One of the SLWG’s early recommendations for a “Community Living Change Fund” of £20 million has already been allocated to Integration Authorities. This serves as strong intent for our commitment to work on making sure Scotland provides support, services and attitudes to ensure that the human rights of autistic people and
people with learning/intellectual disabilities are respected and protected and that they are empowered to live their lives, the same as everyone else. This is the aspiration set out in the recently published Intellectual/Learning Disabilities and Autism Towards Transformation Plan.
I notice the petition suggest people are detained at the State Hospital unnecessarily and I wanted to offer some reassurance around this point.
A clinical diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) itself
is not cause for detention. Indeed there are no patients detained in the State Hospital on the sole diagnosis of autism. Admission to the State Hospital is based on diagnosis of a mental disorder (as per
the wording within the current legislation) that requires treatment under conditions of special security and which cannot be suitably care for in a hospital other than the State Hospital. Our legislation requires
NHS Boards to ensure that patients with a mental illness are able to be treated in facilities which meet their needs and are not subject to higher levels of security than they require. Regular statutory and nonstatutory
reviews are undertaken with rights of appeal available and specific safeguards are in place to ensure that the setting is appropriate for patient needs. Where compulsory treatment is necessary, in
addition to the right to access advocacy there is an efficient and independent Mental Health Tribunal which grants and regularly reviews orders for compulsory treatment.
In my previous response of 20th May 2021, I provided details of the additional safeguard in the statutory duty of the Mental Welfare Commission to monitor the care and treatment of those detained under this legislation. Also in previous correspondence, dated 23rd March 2021, I gave details of the work completed by the Independent Review into the Delivery of Forensic Mental Health Services and the Independent Review
of Learning Disabilities and Autism in Mental Health Act (Rome Review) and the ongoing work of the Scottish Mental Health Law Review (Scott Review).
The Scott Review will make recommendations that give effect to the rights, will and preferences of the individual by ensuring that mental health, incapacity and adult support and protection legislation reflects people’s social, economic and cultural rights, including the requirements of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) and the European Court of Human Rights.
The Rome Review took a human-rights based approach to the Review. This included consideration of the UNCRPD Article 4(3) which calls for persons with disabilities to be closely consulted with and actively involved in the development of legislation and policies which concern those with disabilities. The Review did this by establishing Advisory Groups to inform different aspects of the Review remit. In each of these groups, at least 50% of the membership consisted of those with lived experience of
mental health.
The Scott Review has adopted the exact same approach. They have also established two Reference Groups, one of which is Lived Experience Reference Group. The primary aim of this group is to consider and comment on the ideas for change and issues identified by the Executive Team and Advisory Groups. The group compromises of those with lived experience, including experience as unpaid carers of people with mental health, learning disability, autism and dementia. There is no
expectation on this group to agree with the views of the Review’s Executive Team. The membership of this Reference Group may change to allow the Review to hear from people with specific knowledge or
experience in a particular topic and to speak to people they have not yet heard from. There is more information on the approach in the most recent Interim Report.
I hope you find this information helpful.
Yours sincerely
Nicola Watson MNHL : Mental Health Law