Today, the Equaiities and Human Rights Commisison launched a legal action against the Secretary of State for Health, on behalf of people with learning disabilities and autism who are being held in Assessment and Treatment Units in mental health units across the country.
They are concerned about the fact that many have experiences abusive conditions and are also concerned about the failure to move people into community-based services, which cost considerably less than the expensive hospital placements.Many people have experienced severe trauma as a result of being in an ATU and sadly, there have been deaths in these secure units, such as the death of Connor Sparrowhawk in Southern Health NHS Trust Care.
The EHRC website has a short film clip from the Victoria Derbyshire Show on the issues.