• The Government has unveiled its Mental Health Bill
• The Bill will prevent autistic people from being detained in mental health hospitals for treatment just because they are autistic
• The Bill will now go through Parliamentary scrutiny over the next few weeks where it can be strengthened before becoming law

The Government has this week unveiled its new Mental Health Bill, which will reform mental health legislation to end the inappropriate detention of autistic people and people with a learning disability. 

This legislation has come not a moment too soon. There are currently 2,020 autistic people and people with a learning disability detained in mental health hospitals in England who are being let down by the current system. The average stay for these people in mental health hospitals is around five years, and during this time they can be subject to unnecessary restraint, overmedication, and solitary confinement. This is a human rights scandal. 

Preventing inappropriate detentions is something the National Autistic Society has been campaigning on for years, and the Bill that was published today has the capability to end this awful practice. 

What is in the Bill

The Mental Health Bill brings out-of-step mental health legislation in line with the modern understanding of autism by removing autism from the definition of mental health disorder. This means it will be illegal to detain an autistic person in a mental health hospital for treatment unless they have a co-existing mental health condition. 

The Bill is wide-reaching, and also offers greater protections for autistic people who do need to be hospitalised. This includes putting Care (Education) and Treatment Reviews (C(E)TRs) on a statutory footing to ensure autistic people are receiving the right treatment and speed up discharges. It also introduces a statutory risk register, to make sure autistic people who are at risk of hospitalisation are having their needs met in the community.

What happens now

These reforms have been a long time coming, having been a Conservative manifesto commitment in both 2017 and 2019. The National Autistic Society and thousands of autistic people and their families have been campaigning for years to end the scandal of inappropriate detentions. We are pleased to see these reforms finally being taken forward. 

However, there is a lot left to do. We want to make certain the Bill is as strong as it can be to ensure the greatest protections and safeguards for autistic people. This means:

• Strengthening review processes and protections for autistic patients in mental health hospitals
• Enhancing duties to provide adequate and high-quality support for autistic people in the community
• Closing inappropriate alternative routes to detention
• Ensuring treatment in a mental health hospital is always therapeutically beneficial

Legislative reform is just the start. Too often, autistic people are developing mental illnesses and reaching crisis point because their needs aren’t being met in the community. Investment in community services must come hand-in-hand with reform. This means developing and maintaining high-quality and accessible mental health services for autistic people that can offer the holistic and individualised care that they sorely need.

The Bill will now go through the Parliamentary process, starting in the Lords, where it can be strengthened. During this time, we will continue working to ensure the Bill provides the greatest protection for autistic people, as well as campaigning for much-needed investment in community services that work for all autistic people.

Tim Nicholls, Assistant Director of Policy, Research and Strategy at the National Autistic Society, said: 

“This is a once in a generation chance to end the human rights scandal of autistic people being inappropriately detained in mental health hospitals. 
 
“Autism is not a mental health condition, but currently 1,385 autistic people are held in mental health hospitals   when many could be better supported in their homes surrounded by their loved ones. Instead, they face detention for an average of five years, and risk being subject to unnecessary restraint, overmedication, and solitary confinement.
 
“We have campaigned for years to reform the outdated Mental Health Act and protect autistic people’s human rights. That is what this Bill must do. But changing the law is just part of what’s needed. Without investing in making sure the right support is available everywhere, autistic people will still face this inequality.”