(photo : Ruth Hughes with her autistic son Gordon at Glasgow Green while visiting The Peoples' Palace Museum, on his 19th birthday in January 2017. Two months later, following a crisis, he was admitted to The State Hospital for an assessment. When the assessment period ended the hospital refused to let him leave. Ruth is still fighting to get him released and to end the medication they are forcing on him which is ruining his health.)

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Our Petition : WHAT we are asking for :

We want the Scottish Government and NHS Scotland to use their influence to get patients out of secure psychiatric hospitals in Scotland, who are not a serious risk to the public or to themselves and are not benefiting from the treatment being provided.

We are suggesting that they do this by putting pressure on the hospital authorities to engage openly and positively with the patient, relatives, social services and funding agencies, to explore all options for getting these patients rehabilitated as soon as possible.

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WHY we are asking :

Several patients like Kyle Gibbon and Gordon Hughes (pictured) were sent for psychiatric assessment to high/medium security hospitals because places in low secure hospitals were not available at the time. They had not harmed anyone (except possibly themselves) and are not likely to do so. 

They have been detained at the hospital long beyond the assessment period.  Kyle and Gordon have been detained at The State Hospital (Carstairs) for 11 and 4 years respectively. The restrictive environment and isolation from their families have made them worse not better. This is especially the case for people with autism, intellectual disability or ADHD. Drugs have been used inappropriately to manage their frustration and challenging behaviour; these have terrible side effects such as drowsiness, slurred speech, weight gain/loss, hair loss, uncontrollable tics & restlessness (akathesia), etc. When they rebel thy are needlessly restrained, which provokes them to fight back - perhaps only to avoid suffocation. They are then charged with assault, resulting in them gaining a criminal record and a Restriction Order being placed on them at the request of the hospital; this requires the Scottish Government's approval before they can leave the hospital, adding to the difficulties of getting out.

The hospital refuses to release them. After such a long time they are becoming institutionalised, making it harder for them to return to the community. They are losing hope that they will ever get out.  

Kyle and Gordon's mothers Tracey and Ruth have been fighting for years to get them home. The detaining hospital (Carstairs) has rejected their expertise as carers and refused to consider what they have to say. The appeal process via the Mental Health Tribunal is heavily biased toward the hospital. The lockdown has significantly increased their difficulties by making it harder for independent doctors to get access to carry out assessments, and slowing down the legal process. These 'independent' doctors - who are often detaining similar patients in similar circumstances - rarely challenge the hospital's assessment; and even when they do so their views are given much less weight. 

Several other patients have won appeals against being detained in conditions of excessive security, perhaps only because the detaining psychiatrist has supported the appeal. But even so, months or years later, they have not been transferred out due to shortage of appropriate places in low security, lack of funding, and unwillingness to consider all options.  Some have been forced to apply for Judicial Review in the Court of Session in order to make progress. This is an enormous emotional and financial burden on families and very time consuming. 

The average cost per patient at Carstairs is at least £303,500 pa*. The cost of caring for them in the community is only a fraction of this sum, especially if they are at home among their families.

Our petition calls on the Scottish Government to bring about an open dialogue between the detaining hospital, the patient, the family, and the local authority, to explore all reasonable options for getting these patients home as soon as possible. 

* FOI request answered by The State Hospital on 14 January 2019. Based on figures for 2017/18 accounting period.  

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The Petitioners are Barry Gale (West Lothian), Ruth Hughes (Ayrshire), Tracey Gibbon (Aberdeenshire), Sylvia Shirley McMahon (Renfrewshire) and Lynn Mcguire (Stirlingshire).

Email contact : mhrscot(at)gmx(dot)co(dot)uk

Our social media sites :

Get Me Out of The State Hospital! https://www.facebook.com/groups/216083389717093

Mental Health Rights Scotland                          https://www.facebook.com/RightsScotland/ ; https://twitter.com/RightsScotland