Having recently challenged the Welsh Government in the Senedd Chamber over the lack of progress it has made in reducing the numbers of Autistic people or people with a learning disability still locked up in Assessment and Treatment Centres in Wales and England, North Wales MS and Chair of the Senedd Cross-Party Groups on Autism and on Disability, Mark Isherwood, is set to meet with the Minister for Mental Health and Early Years to discuss the matter.
Last month, Mr Isherwood raised in the Senedd the number of Autistic people and people with learning disabilities still being held in in Hospitals, Assessment and Treatment Centres and other settings, some for decades.
He called for a Statement from the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care on why high numbers are still locked up.
He also referred to the “Homes, not Hospitals” protest by the Stolen Lives campaign which took place on the steps of the Senedd.
This protest was organised by a group of families calling for the release of people with a learning disability and/or Autistic people who are trapped in mental health hospitals.
This week in the Senedd, the matter was raised again and the Minister for Mental Health and Early Years said she would be meeting with representatives of the Stolen Lives campaign next week and that a meeting is “extended to Mark Isherwood as well, due to the work that he's doing and his interest in this area”.
Commenting, Mr Isherwood said:
“The Minister for Mental Health and Early Years said she is meeting representatives of the Stolen Lives campaign next week, on May 8th, and that she’s keen to hear directly from MSs who have been raising this. Unfortunately, I am unable to attend the meeting as I will be Chairing the Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee at that time. However, the Minister for Mental Health and Early Years has now offered to meet with me separately and this is currently being scheduled.
“I look forward to meeting with the Minister to discuss this deeply concerning matter and possible ways forward.
“As Learning Disability Wales, who supported the protest outside the Senedd, have said: ‘Over 40 years ago, Wales was one of the first countries in the world to launch a strategy to get people with a learning disability out of long-stay hospitals and back into the community. The All Wales Strategy was radical and groundbreaking yet 40 years on we seem to be going backwards and slipping towards re-institutionalisation, despite numerous policies and strategies over the years that quite clearly state people should be supported to live in their communities and not locked away in institutions’.”