Fifth Report - The treatment of autistic people and people with learning disabilities

The government agrees with the importance of community support, acknowledges the funding complexity, and outlines current spending initiatives for people with learning disabilities and autistic people.

The government states it is difficult to provide a complete assessment of community support costs and matching investment due to varied funding, highlights existing spending, but does not commit to the specific assessment or matching investment as recommended.

The government accepts the recommendation, agreeing to redesign incentives by working to change the law to make local authorities and health services responsible for community support, improve housing, and ensure high-quality local support options.

The government provides a generic response about the importance of mental health treatment and quality of care, which does not directly address the committee's conclusion regarding missed policy targets or the reasons for extended stays in Assessment and Treatment Units.

The government's response addresses a different suggestion regarding inadequate CQC-rated hospitals, and therefore does not engage with the committee's conclusion about The Building the Right Delivery Support Group.

The government agrees in principle with the recommendation for less restrictive care, stating it is already taking steps to ensure robust reporting of restrictive practices and emphasising therapeutic inpatient care. It highlights existing legislation like the Use of Force Act and notes CQC is improving its monitoring of restraint.

The government rejects the recommendation to ban long-term admissions and implement the Trieste model, stating it does not want to prevent necessary mental health hospital admissions but aims for shorter stays and increased community support.

The government accepts some parts of the recommendation, agreeing to regular checks (while noting existing reviews), that people should not be in hospital due to lack of community provision, and to remove the definition of autism as a mental health illness in forthcoming legislation.

The government agrees in part, stating the NHS will take action to avoid admissions to CQC-rated "inadequate" facilities but notes rare exceptions may occur, and commits to ensuring patient and family involvement in such decisions.

The government states it already publishes monthly information on the use of force, exceeding the recommendation for twice-yearly publication, and notes that individuals and families should be involved in understanding incidents of force.

The government's response addresses a different suggestion regarding investigating deaths, and therefore does not engage with the substance of the committee's conclusion about why inpatient facilities fail to meet the needs of autistic people and people with learning disabilities.

The government rejects the recommendation to close all Assessment and Treatment Units (ATUs) within two years, instead stating the importance of mental health treatment places and ensuring quality of care.

The government agrees with the importance of proper staff training and states they are starting new training programmes for health and care staff, including better training for those working in mental health hospitals.

The government accepts the need for better staff training, stating they are starting new programmes, but indicates that not all staff will complete the training by the recommended April 2023 deadline.

The government agrees with the conclusion, stating it is already working to improve autism diagnosis by adhering to NICE guidelines for waiting times and investing money in autism checks.

The government agrees with the recommendation but states it is already working on increasing early autism diagnosis by adhering to NICE guidelines for waiting times and investing in autism checks.

The government has looked into creating an Intellectual Disability Physician role but is concerned about potential negative effects, opting instead to focus on training all doctors to work with autistic people and those with learning disabilities.

The government has considered assessing a new Intellectual Disability Physician role but rejects it due to concerns about potential negative effects, preferring to focus on training all doctors to work with autistic people and those with learning disabilities.

The government rejects the recommendation for mandatory independent reviews of deaths, stating they already look into reasons for deaths in mental health hospitals with appropriate local involvement.

The government rejects the recommendation to mandate an independent review of all deaths, stating they already investigate deaths of people with learning disabilities and autistic people in mental health hospitals locally.