My son has been locked in Carstairs for three years. For being autistic
Plight of Scotland’s forgotten patients – Bereft mother breaks silence
An autistic teenager sent to the State Hospital because there were no beds in an appropriate psychiatric unit is still being held there three years later, we can reveal today.
His mother, who has been told her son may now be held at high- security Carstairs hospital indefinitely after a hearing at which his family was not present, has spoken of her sadness and bewilderment.
She said: “It happened one step at a time and all those little steps have taken us into hell. It felt like there was absolutely nothing we could do to stop it. The system has just picked my son up and taken him away. Every day, it breaks my heart.”
She says the condition of her son, who has never harmed anyone but himself, has deteriorated badly since he was sent to Carstairs and he is now being treated for a mental illness.
His detention provoked calls for an urgent case review yesterday and a wider inquiry into the specialist critical care available to autistic patients.
His mother said: “If someone had told me this could happen in a civilised country, I would not have believed them.”
Young people with autism are being sent to Scotland’s highsecurity hospital because there is no suitable accommodation elsewhere, we can reveal.
The mother of a 22- year- old man has told how he was taken to Scotland’s State Hospital, treating mentally- ill patients who are dangerous to themselves and others, against his family’s wishes three years ago.
Today, she describes a shattering series of decisions, taken by officials behind closed doors, that mean her son may now be held at Carstairs forever.
She told how a minor verbal altercation between her son, who had been diagnosed with a range of conditions related to autism, and a member of the public began a sequence of events that left him, afraid and isolated, among dangerous psychiatric patients.
Speaking about her son Gordon’s experience for the first time, his mum Ruth, who has asked we do not use their surname, said: “If someone had told me this could happen in a civilised country, I would not have believed them.
“It happened one step at a time and all those little steps have taken us into hell. It felt like there was absolutely nothing we could do to stop it. The system just picked my son up and took him away. It breaks my heart to think of him in there.”
Last year, Ruth was told the minor incident involving Gordon had been raised at a special hearing and used to justify him being detained at the State Hospital indefinitely.
The court hearing, known as an examination of the facts, can be held in Scotland in cases where a person is deemed unfit to stand trial due to mental health issues. There is no verdict of guilty or not guilty but it can lead to a restriction order allowing a person to be detained in hospital indefinitely.
Ruth says she was not told of the significance of the hearing until afterwards. She fears for his mental health because of his detention at Carstairs and told how two staff members were dismissed after another patient was goaded to attack him.
The State Hospital insist no patients are there only because of autism and Ruth says after her son was admitted doctors diagnosed schizophrenia, a condition never mentioned previously.
Ruth said: “He had never had a diagnosis of schizophrenia until he went to the State Hospital and he has one now. We could not believe it.
“He was diagnosed as bipolar when he was 16 but doctors later told us that diagnosis was wrong.
“We have tried every avenue – the hospital, the ombudsman and the mental health tribunal – and got nowhere. We talk but no one listens.
“Three years on, he remains in Carstairs with his condition deteriorating dreadfully.”
Today, she demands an urgent review into her son’s treatment and a wider inquiry into the availability of more appropriate care. She has the backing of campaigners, politicians and other families.
Last month, a Scottish Government report on forensic mental health services found there were “no central reports currently available” on how many autistic people were being treated in the forensic [ secure] system”, adding: “There is, however, a known lack of specific provision and forensic pathways for people with autism.”
Ruth said her son was diagnosed as a child with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ( ADHD), autism and a learning disability.
He was placed on medication aged 16 and, in mid- 2017, became involved in a verbal altercation with a member of the public. Ruth said: “When he got home, he was distressed and he self- harmed. We have not experienced anything like it before or since.
“It was a shock and I called police. The other man was very understanding and no charges were brought but Gordon ended up in Leverndale psychiatric hospital under the Mental Health Act.
“A few months later, a psychiatrist called to say they wanted to transfer Gordon to a Learning Disability ward at the Rowanbank clinic in Glasgow for further assessment but there were no beds and the option was to move him to the State Hospital.
“I was aghast but the next call was to say he’d already been moved. And he has been there ever since, his condition getting worse and worse.”
Ruth received a letter from the NHS stating Gordon was being moved to Carstairs under “e x c e p t i o n a l c i r c u m s t a n c e s” because “there are no mediumsecure beds available”.
She said: “In one of our first visits, his face was cut to ribbons and there were carpet burns on his hands and ankles. I asked what happened and was told it had been a ‘restraint’. Gordon became very fearful and the alarm bells went off for me. I felt sick but things only got worse.
“There was an incident, which we found out about months afterwards, in which a member of staff goaded another of the patients to attack Gordon. It turned my stomach. Two staff were later sacked over it.
“He went further downhill and early last year our lawyer told us there would be a hearing concerning the incident which led to him going to Leverndale but we had no idea of the significance.
“We had no idea it could lead to a restriction order without the limit of time. We were utterly horrified.
“My son was being taken away from us permanently and there was not a thing I could do. He is such a loveable boy and has never hurt
Restriction on an individual should be the minimum restriction necessary. If people are kept in hospital, for whatever reason, beyond the length of time required then that can have serious negative effects – Dr John Crichton, Royal College of Psychiatrists
another person. He has now been in the State Hospital for three years and tells me he stays in his room most of the day and night. He lies under his blanket all day alone.
“He had so many interests, including Scottish history and the US Civil War and was an avid newspaper reader. He liked walking, cooking and playing computer games.
“Now he just lies in his bed. He is so drugged that his speech is severely slurred, which is very distressing for us, and he asks me to read to him. He is such an articulate and loving boy and now he is just fading away in there. He has lost the will to live.
“He says, ‘Mum, they keep asking me if I hear voices and I keep telling them no’, but he has now been given a diagnosis of schizophrenia which has left us completely shocked.
“Things feel as if they are spiralling out of control and we have had visits where he has been unable to hold his head up, such is his level of medication. He tells me he wants to come home and I’m confident he could live in the community either with his family or in supported accommodation. If I thought he presented a danger to anyone I’d accept he should be in a secure place.
“Instead, he is in a hospital with patients who have committed terrible acts of violence. This system is broken.”
She is backed by Tracey Gibbon, whose autistic son Kyle, 32, has been held at Carstairs for 10 years.
Tracey said: “The similarities between the cases are clear: Two young men have been held in the State Hospital against their families’ wishes for years, in an environment which is making them worse.
“We both believe our sons would be far better off being cared for at home at a fraction of the cost of keeping them in the State Hospital.”
Her lawyer, mental health specialist Gary Mcilravey, believes
Carstairs is “wholly inappropriate” for Kyle.
Dr John Crichton, chair of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Scotland, said: “There are delays in providing appropriate packages of care and support for people in the community, particularly for those with autism.
“There are still people who do not need to be in a hospital environment with learning disability and autism, who should be provided with care in the community.
“Wi t h any re s t r i c t i o n on an individual it should be the minimum restriction for the minimum time necessary in their particular circumstances. If people are kept in hospital, f o r w h a t e ve r re a - son, beyond the length of time required, that can have serious negative effects.”
On Friday, the State Hospital, run by its own NHS board and employing around 650 staff caring for 114 patients, said: “We are unable to comment on individual patients but can confirm there are no patients detained with autism as the only diagnosis.
“A patient would be considered for transfer once his mental health had improved and his behaviour was settled for a prolonged period.
“Our principal aim is to rehabilitate patients, ensuring safe transfer to appropriate lower levels of security.
“There are well- established legal avenues to appeal against detention and to obtain independent reviews of the care and treatment provided.”
The Scottish Government said: “Where compulsory treatment is necessary then, in addition to the right to access advocacy, there is an efficient and independent Mental Health Tribunal which grants and reviews orders for compulsor y treatment.
“A l s o , the Me n t a l We l f a r e Commission monitors the use of Scottish mental health law and has the power to intervene in cases if there is evidence of improper care, treatment or practices.”