assessment and treatment units

The learning disability charity My Life My Choice (MLMC) has formally withdrawn from NHS England’s Care and Treatment Review programme, calling it “a waste of time”.

The mother of a 24-year-old man with a learning disability, autism and Tourette’s has instructed specialist lawyers to investigate the care her son is receiving at an assessment and treatment unit (ATU).

An independent report has urged the Government and local agencies to take action to protect people with learning disabilities, after a series of failings led to the deaths of three people at Cawston Park Hospital in Norfolk.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has closed another inpatient unit, Eldertree Lodge in Staffordshire, after finding inadequate levels of safety and care, including evidence that some patients were subject to abuse.

A new casebook by Mencap and Hft has revealed the shocking levels of restrictive practices used in assessment and treatment units on people with learning disabilities and/or autism. 

Urgent action is needed to stop children and young people with challenging behaviour and complex mental health needs from being institutionalised at an early age with low ambitions for improving their lives, a review has said.

To CTR or not to CTR? That is the question bugging Sam Sly, as she continues to try and move people out of assessment and treatment units.

In this guest blog, James Allen, managing director of Consensus, considers how independent learning disability service providers can embrace fast track change and navigate the complex landscape of care, following the publication of the national plan.

Charities Mencap, the Challenging Behaviour Foundation and the National Autistic Society have produced new campaign guidance for groups and individuals wanting to apply pressure on NHS England and local areas to deliver change for thousands of people with a learning disability, autism and/or challenging behaviour currently stuck in inpatient units.

Occupational Therapist Mark Keeble looks at how therapists can support autistic adults with behaviours that challenge to develop techniques to self-regulate their reactions to sensory stimulation.

Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust has accepted full responsibility for the death of Connor Sparrowhawk and has admitted that it was negligent and violated Connor’s and his family’s human rights.

The fifth anniversary of the Panorama documentary that broke the Winterbourne View scandal was earlier this week. It served as a timely reminder that for people with learning disabilities stuck in assessment and treatment units, little has changed since then, says editor Dan Parton.

More than 2,500 people with a learning disability and/or autism were receiving inpatient care in England at the end of February – and nearly a third of those had been resident for 5 years or more, according to new statistics.

The families of the people who were abused at the former Winterbourne View hospital have signed an open letter to Prime Minister David Cameron expressing their anger at the “painfully slow” rate of change towards improving care for people with a learning disability.

Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust must make significant improvements to protect patients in its mental health and learning disability services from the risk of harm, health regulator the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has warned.