logo
'We wish we'd never asked for help': Family's hurt as thousands with learning disabilities locked up

'We wish we'd never asked for help': Family's hurt as thousands with learning disabilities locked up

ITV News14-07-2025
Josh Standish loves riding his bike.
Everyday for an hour he's allowed to leave the hospital in Hull, where he's locked away, and ride around the nearby park with his dad, who struggles to keep up.
It's the highlight of each day for him.
Josh is 21 and has severe learning disabilities and autism.
For the past four years he's been locked away in secure units. Josh's needs became more complex when he was 17.
Desperate for help, his parents, Garry and Sara, turned to social services.
He was admitted to an inpatient unit and his parents were told it would just be for three months while he was assessed. But he never came home.
"It's the biggest regret of our lives," Garry and Sara said.
"We wish we'd never asked for help.
"He was taken from us and locked up." Josh was detained under the Mental Health Act and moved to a different hospital 100 miles from their home.
According to his parents, he suffered physical and mental abuse at the hospital which was eventually closed down. "He's gone through absolute hell," Sara said.
"I don't think anybody will ever realise unless they've actually seen it.
"For one person to go through that much trauma in his life; it's so sad."
When ITV News first met Josh nearly two years ago, he was at a hospital closer to home.
Staff declared he was ready to be discharged but there was no adequate community care in place and Josh became trapped in the system.
His parents told ITV News that Josh had deteriorated significantly since.
He had been repeatedly physically restrained and injected with drugs to sedate him."Sometimes I'd go in and he was laid in his own urine because he just couldn't be bothered to get up," his mother Sara told ITV News.
"I've had to hold him while changing his sheets because he couldn't stand up.
"He was slurring his words, it was absolutely heartbreaking.
"No mother wants to walk out, leaving her child like that but you have no choice."
His father, Garry, said doctors at the facility had told him that Josh was "over medicated" most of the time."In the first meeting that we had, we were told that it was well over the limits of roughly around 80 per cent over drugged, over medicated," he said. Josh has continued to be in long term segregation and spent almost two months isolated in a room with nothing but a toilet in the corner.
Any communication was through a small hatch in the door.
That's where he spent his 21st birthday, with his parents forced to pass presents through that hatch.
Last year, Josh's parents were told he would be moved to a forensic unit which houses people involved with the criminal justice system. "I was just ready to give up," Sara said.
"I was so close to just having a breakdown and saying, 'I don't feel like I can be a mum right now' because I was just in such a bad place but then who would fight for Josh?" Garry and Sara were told it was the only option.
But it wasn't. Melissa, an occupational therapist and specialist practitioner from HOPES, arrived.
HOPES is a NHS programme which has been running for three years to support people like Josh come out of long term segregation.
Staff are trained to work intensely with the patient and family.
The model focuses on compassion and dignity and avoids using any kind of restraint, except as a last resort for a short amount of time. Exclusive analysis by Mencap for ITV News has revealed people with learning disabilities and autism locked up in mental health units are disproportionally restrained.
They make up about 16 per cent of patients in mental health units, but receive more than a third of the total restraints used. Melissa worked intensively with Josh helping him to come off his medication. "I remember when Josh first came to the hospital and, obviously, he was on so many drugs they had to wean him off slowly and he did have some ups and downs while coming off them and it resulted in Josh needed to go in seclusion," Sara said.
"Melissa sat on the floor with him at the other side of the hatch and she was holding his hand and Josh said to her, 'why can't I come out?'" About 70 per cent of people who have been supported by HOPES have come out of long term segregation.
But funding for the HOPES programme was only ever allocated for three years.
Now, it's up to local trusts to decide if they can afford the programme and the services of practioners like Melissa . Funding for Melissa to continue working with Josh stopped a few weeks ago. Josh's parents say he's struggling without her help. "It's cruel," Sara said.
"For Josh, she was here and then gone.
"She was amazing and helped him so much; we're terrified he'll regress and never come out."
Former Care Minister Norman Lamb, who chaired the HOPES project, told ITV News priority needed to be given to people like Josh. "It is an enduring scandal to continue with the practice of long term segregation," he said.
"It's a truly inhuman treatment and it's usually because of a lack of understanding.
"The NHS has a moral obligation to maintain this programme; it's clearly working." Josh's case is not rare.
Hundreds of others like him are trapped in hospital, detained under the Mental Health Act and unable to leave because there is nowhere for them to go.
ITV News has been investigating the continuing scandal of people with learning difficulties being locked away in segregated hospital units. Currently, more than 200,000 people with learning disabilities and autism are detained in inpatient units in England.
NHS figures show 40 per cent of those people do not need to be there.
Since 2011 successive governments have pledged to reduce the numbers of people with learning disabilities and autism in hospital by 50 per cent.
That target has never been met.
Exclusive analysis by Mencap for ITV News revealed it would take eight years to achieve.
In April, the government introduced a new, much lower target – a 10 per cent in year reduction by March 2026. Garry and Sara have a very clear message for the Health Secretary Wes Streeting.
"I would ask him why they're locking away people who have got learning disabilities?"
"Would they lock a five year old child away? Because that's what Josh is mentally.
"If it was his family, if it was their child, would they be happy with him being locked up?" ITV News put that question to the Health Secretary.
Wes Streeting MP admitted the treatment for people like Josh was unwarranted and cruel.
"In our ten year plan, the emphasis shifts from hospital to community," he said.
"So those adults who are hospitalised for no reason, care could be provided within the safety and dignity of their homes.
"I want that for everyone, particularly this group in society who have poor health outcomes.
"I take the challenge from the family on the chin. If this was my mum, dad, brother would I tolerate it? No.
"I'm here as Health Secretary to be a voice and a champion for patients and care users, so when parents put those challenges to me I'll able to take those challenges on."
Mr Streeting insisted the Mental Health Act Bill would stop people with learning disabilities and autism being inappropriately detained.
But Dan Scorer, Mencap's Head of Policy, said it was not so simple. "The Government has said clearly that this change in the law will only get 'switched on' when there is sufficient community support in place," Mr Scorer said.
"However, there is no plan for making sure sufficient community support will be in place any time soon.
"This is a serious flaw. There is a serious risk that the key law change for people with a learning disability and or autistic people will never be activated." Garry and Sara said Josh was excited about a future outside of hospital."He wants a job, he wants to work with bikes, he wants to go to college to learn to read and write," Sara said.
"He wants a life that's not locked away in a hospital.
"Surely he deserves that?"
Josh asks his parents daily when he can come out but they can't give him an answer.
Until there is proper community support in place Josh continues to be locked up."It's easy to lock people like Josh away and just forget about them rather than get them out there," Sara said.
"It's an easy life to lock them away, drug them, keep that one quiet.
"It's only when they've got someone who will actually speak up for them and say, no, this isn't right.
"Obviously, we are there for Josh all the time, so we know what's going on.
"But not every patient in them hospitals has someone to look out for them. So then people that are just stuck there and being drugged and nobody's seen it.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Medics issue patient safety warning over union's approach to strikes
Medics issue patient safety warning over union's approach to strikes

The Independent

time5 minutes ago

  • The Independent

Medics issue patient safety warning over union's approach to strikes

Top medics have urged the British Medical Association (BMA) to suspend its guidance advising doctors not to disclose strike plans to employers. The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges said that withholding this information risks patient safety as it makes it extremely difficult for health service leaders to maintain adequate patient care. Resident doctors are set to begin a five-day strike on Friday after pay talks with the government broke down, with the BMA seeking a 29 per cent pay rise. Hospital leaders anticipate having to cancel some operations and appointments, despite NHS England 's mandate to continue routine care, with one A&E in Cheltenham considering reducing services. The health secretary, Wes Streeting, described the strike action as 'completely unjustified', while the BMA argues the government's pay offer is insufficient.

NHS investigation ‘bent the rules' in favour of trans doctor
NHS investigation ‘bent the rules' in favour of trans doctor

Telegraph

time6 minutes ago

  • Telegraph

NHS investigation ‘bent the rules' in favour of trans doctor

The NHS investigation into a nurse who complained about a transgender doctor using a female hospital changing room repeatedly 'bent' impartiality rules, an employment tribunal has heard. Naomi Cunningham KC, barrister for nurse Sandie Peggie, said there was a 'pattern' of 'rules being bent and the usual boundaries transgressed' to favour trans medic Dr Beth Upton. She challenged Dr Kate Searle, an emergency medicine consultant at the Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy, Fife, that the 'usual rules don't apply when dealing with Dr Upton, do they?'. Dr Searle disagreed but Ms Cunningham pointed to an email she sent to Dr Upton, passing on a message of support from Jamie Doyle, the hospital's head of nursing. The barrister said Mr Doyle was involved in the investigation and 'shouldn't it have been obvious to both you and Jamie that that was a wholly improper message from him.' Dr Searle replied: 'In hindsight, yes.' Ms Cunningham highlighted that Dr Searle was allowed to be present during Dr Upton's interview for the investigation, despite also being a witness in the case. She read an email from Angela Glancey, a clinical nurse manager, in which it was stated that Dr Searle would be interviewed first as 'that way there's no conflict once we speak to Dr Upton'. Dr Searle replied that she did not know the rules but Ms Cunningham said: 'Once again, this is a situation where we see rules being bent and the usual boundaries transgressed for Dr Upton. That's what you want and Angela indulges you.' She disagreed but then admitted she had committed a 'flagrant breach' of an instruction not to discuss the case with others, by speaking with another witness. The tribunal had previously heard how Dr Searle had emailed 19 of the hospital's consultants shortly after the incident to state that Dr Upton 'knows we all support her, and that we condemn the actions of Sandie'. The row centres on an encounter between Ms Peggie and Dr Upton on Dec 24 2023. The nurse experienced a sudden and heavy period and feared that it had bled through to her scrubs. Ms Peggie entered the female hospital changing room to find Dr Upton and challenged the medic's presence. Within hours, a bullying complaint was lodged by Dr Upton and the nurse was then suspended. In May last year Ms Peggie submitted a formal claim to an employment tribunal against NHS Fife and Dr Upton for sexual harassment, belief discrimination and victimisation. The nurse complained of being required to share a single-sex space with someone she believed to be male and being victimised for holding a gender-critical belief that biological sex is immutable. It emerged last week that Ms Peggie had been cleared of gross misconduct by an NHS Fife disciplinary hearing. However, the employment tribunal continues. Dr Searle spoke with Dr Upton on the night of the changing room incident and helped the medic fill out an official report into the matter. 'Flagrant breach' After Dr Searle was questioned about her email to the other consultants, and being present at Dr Upton's interview, Ms Cunningham said: 'Usual boundaries (are) transgressed because it's Doctor Upton, because it's about Doctor Upton. That's right, isn't it? This is becoming a pattern, isn't it?' Dr Searle disagreed but Ms Cunningham highlighted her invitation to an investigation meeting that stated 'you should avoid discussing the case with anyone other than your representative to ensure your confidentiality and that of the other parties involved'. The doctor said she had taken that instruction 'seriously' but she said she had not told Ms Glancey about her email to the other consultants, or passing on good wishes from Mr Doyle to Dr Upton. Ms Cunningham highlighted that Dr Searle had also spoken with the only third-party witness who could substantiate a claim that Ms Peggie had refused to communicate with Dr Upton over a patient. The barrister said the conversation was a 'flagrant breach' of the warning not to discuss the case with others. Dr Searle replied: 'In hindsight now, yes.' The doctor also agreed that a large man in men's clothes should not be allowed to use the female changing room if he self-identified as a woman. But she denied that Dr Upton was 'obviously male', saying she would not have known what sex the medic was 'assigned at birth' unless she had been told. The tribunal continues.

NHS consultant spoke to trans row witness despite warnings
NHS consultant spoke to trans row witness despite warnings

BBC News

timean hour ago

  • BBC News

NHS consultant spoke to trans row witness despite warnings

An NHS consultant has admitted that she spoke to a potential witness despite being warned not to do so during an investigation into an altercation between a transgender doctor and a nurse.A healthcare assistant was alleged to have witnessed a separate incident involving nurse Sandie Peggie and Dr Beth Upton, days before they were involved in an encounter in a changing room at the Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy on Christmas Eve questioning from Ms Peggie's lawyer at a tribunal, Dr Kate Searle admitted that talking to the witness had been a "flagrant breach" of previous warnings not to discuss the she denied claims that she "left confidentiality in ruins" with her actions. Ms Peggie was suspended from work with NHS Fife after she told Dr Upton - a trans woman - not to be in the women's changing rooms. Dr Searle, who was Dr Upton's line manager, became involved with the case on 29 December and helped file a report on the NHS's datex complaints this period Dr Upton also accused Ms Peggie of walking out on treating a patient earlier in December due to the junior doctor's Searle later spoke to a healthcare assistant who was alleged to have witnessed this incident. However, the woman could not remember details of a conversation between Ms Peggie and Dr Upton. Dr Searle said she could not recall whether she had this conversation before or after Angela Glancy - a senior charge nurse involved in the investigation - had spoken to the Peggie's lawyer Naomi Cunningham said if Dr Searle had spoken to the witness before investigators it would be "grossly improper" added: "What possible business did you have making contact with the witness, who was a witness to a live investigation or pending employment tribunal proceedings?"Dr Searle replied "no business".The consultant said she "probably" spoke to the healthcare assistant after Dr Glancy had done so, but could not be sure as "times have blurred into one" during the later admitted that speaking to the witness was a "flagrant breach" of previous warnings not to discuss the case. Dr Searle became emotional after Ms Cunningham named the healthcare worker, saying that the person involved was desperate to avoid any media had to leave the stand at that point, which Ms Cunningham later dubbed "an outburst". The lawyer suggested the emotion was not to do with any concern for the healthcare assistant but out of "a desire to protect yourself."Dr Searle denied this, and NHS Fife's lawyer Jane Russell said Ms Cunningham's questions on the matter "left a little to be desired". Timeline of the Sandie Peggie tribunal Giving evidence for a second day, Dr Searle was again quizzed regarding emails exchanged between senior staff in the aftermath of the Christmas Eve Cunningham focused on one message said to mention avoiding "foot in mouth syndrome" and that not all messages had been provided to the added Dr Searle's search for emails related to the case had either been "surprisingly incompetent or deliberately withholding" the Searle said she rejected the latter Cunningham accused Dr Searle of "turning up the emotional heat" with how she reported the incident in the replied that she had reported the incident as she saw it, with a junior doctor upset about something that had happened at Searle had told the tribunal on Tuesday she considered reporting the matter to Police Scotland as it could be considered a hate Cunningham asked Dr Searle if she would have recognised Dr Upton as trans if she had not been told, and claimed the junior doctor was "obviously male".The lawyer added that the Christmas Eve incident could have been resolved by Dr Upton leaving the changing room, rather than telling Ms Peggie to speak to management about Searle said she disagreed this would have been a suitable way to end the tribunal continues.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store