“He didn’t break the law. He just needed help. Now he’s locked in a hospital hundreds of miles away.” — Alun, father of a detained 19-year-old

IN SECURE hospitals across England and Wales, more than 2,000 people with autism or learning disabilities remain locked away under mental health laws — despite never committing a crime.

Many are detained under the Mental Health Act 1983, often after being taken by police during a mental health crisis. The vast majority have no mental illness diagnosis. Some are teenagers. A few have been there for decades.

“It’s a human rights scandal,” said Dan Scorer of Mencap. “They’re being institutionalised because society hasn’t built the support they need.”

Autism is not a mental illness. It is widely recognised that for most autistic people, care in an inpatient unit is rarely helpful – in fact, it can be deeply damaging. 

The average length of stay is around 4.6 years.

The overwhelming majority (92%) of autistic people and people with a learning disability who are detained in hospitals are put there using the Mental Health Act of 1983.

A NEED FOR URGENT REFORM

For years, the National Autistic Society and tens of thousands of campaigners have called for changes to mental health law.

Reform has been promised, and a bill is making its way through Parliament. However, the government will not commit to funding the reforms the legislation will enact. Even then, campaigners say the law change will not end the scandal of detention.

In April, Denise Cavanagh from Hook, a founder of the Stolen Lives campaign, told BBC Wales that she believed people would still be detained via other laws, including the Mental Capacity Act.

She added: “People with learning disabilities often end up in hospitals because there’s a breakdown in housing and community care, and it’s the only place they can go.

“So, if that community care isn’t there, there is nowhere for them to go and they’ll still be detained.”

And even though health is devolved to Wales, the Welsh Government is relying on a Westminster bill to improve how people with learning disabilities and autism are supported during a crisis.

“THEY CAME WITH HANDCUFFS”

Michelle, from Wiltshire, recounts the day her autistic daughter was detained after a meltdown in a supermarket.

“She was 23. She was overwhelmed. She panicked. That’s all. But the police came and took her away. That was three years ago. She hasn’t been home since.”

Michelle’s story is one of many. Some families describe wards where patients are sedated, isolated, and cut off from loved ones.

Bethany – whose surname cannot be published – was locked in a hospital room in Northampton as a teenager. Her only access to the outside world was through a tiny hatch in the door.

Her father, Jeremy, said he could only see his daughter through a plastic screen or through the six-inch hatch.

“It was cruel. It was torture for my daughter,” he said.

“It broke her human rights, her right to family life, her right to freedom from degrading treatment.”

Even now, several years on from Jeremy’s interview on Radio Four regarding Bethany’s treatment, little has changed. In fact, the data shows a worrying trend towards increased detention of those with mental illness or specific learning difficulties.

NO WAY OUT

Official NHS data reveals the extent of the crisis:

Over 52,000 people were detained under the Mental Health Act in April 2024 — the highest figure in five years.

Over 2,000 of those are autistic or have a learning disability.

As of May 2025, 2,025 autistic people and people with a learning disability are in mental health hospitals in England. Of these, 1,455 (72%) are autistic.
There are 240 under-18s in inpatient units who are autistic or have a learning disability. Of these, 230 (96%) are autistic.
The number of autistic people without a learning disability detained in mental health hospitals has increased by 141% since 2015.
This is the most up-to-date record of how many autistic people and people with a learning disability are currently in mental health hospitals in England.
Despite some progress moving people with a learning disability out of hospitals and into the community, the number of autistic people detained has increased. In 2015, autistic people made up 38% of the total number in hospitals, now it is 72%.

Around 60% of learning disability or autism inpatients have no mental illness diagnosis.

Detained patients are often placed in “out-of-area” units, sometimes hundreds of miles from home.

Toni Dymond, an autistic woman, was detained for over 20 years in psychiatric care without a criminal charge.

“She was isolated, broken,” said her brother in a statement. “It wasn’t treatment. It was abandonment.”

34,685 people were detained by police under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act in 2022–23.

Over 60% were transported in police vehicles, not ambulances.

Autistic woman and author of the memoir Unbroken, Alexis Quinn, spent three years “locked inside” various mental health hospitals, including Assessment and Treatment Units (ATU).

She says: “I  was detained under the Mental Health Act and remained so for most of my stay. The Mental Health Act is a piece of legislation which provides a legal framework to detain people when they are mentally ill and require treatment to get better. The interesting thing about a treatment order for an autistic person is that autism is not a mental health condition.

“Whilst mental illnesses, such as depression and anxiety, can be treated, for autistic people, this has to be done in a way that reflects their needs and understands autism.

“When I was detained under the Mental Health Act, I felt like this was because of behaviour relating to my autism, not because I was mentally ill; the whole process lacked any understanding of the difference between autism and mental illness.”

CHANGE PROMISED, BUT NO MONEY ON THE TABLE

The Mental Health Bill, which is currently going through Parliament, will stop people with a learning disability and autistic people from being detained for treatment. However, the government have said that this change to the law will not be enforced until there is sufficient community support. That means the law will not come into effect until there are enough resources to support its operation. There is no commitment to provide that funding.

The Challenging Behaviour Foundation, a national charity, wants a clear plan, co-produced with people with lived experience, families, and those working within the different parts of the system, setting out what steps will be taken to develop this support and accompanied by the resources to make it happen.

The National Autistic Society says: “We are calling on the government to urgently publish a comprehensive and fully-costed plan for how it intends to build this support.” 

So far, that call has been met with silence.

Conservatives claim ‘progress in reverse’ as Labour defends investment in health services

WAITING times for NHS treatment in Wales have risen again, with 9,600 people now waiting more than two years for care – a sharp increase of nearly 15% in just one month.

The latest figures, published on Wednesday (June 19), show that two-year waits are once again climbing after a period of decline, fuelling criticism of the Welsh Government’s handling of the crisis.

Overall, the number of open patient pathways remains high at 789,929 – equivalent to one in four people in Wales still waiting for some form of treatment. Although this total has marginally decreased from March, opposition parties say the system is stagnating.

Welsh Conservative health spokesman James Evans MS said: “Labour is proving in real time that their health strategy is failing abysmally. Progress is in reverse.

“No one should even be waiting over a year for treatment. That’s why the Welsh Conservatives would declare a health emergency, to ensure that resources and the efforts of the whole Government are targeted at reducing these excessive waits.”

The number of patients waiting over two years in Wales dwarfs the equivalent figure in England, which currently stands at 171, despite the English population being over 17 times larger.

Andrew RT Davies MS, Senedd Member for South Wales Central and former Leader of the Welsh Conservatives, said: “People in Wales have lost all confidence in this Welsh Government to get our NHS onto a strong footing.

“Yet again, the worst waits in the Welsh NHS are on the up, frustrating patients and hardworking staff alike.

“The Welsh Government has to shelve its distractions, like their plans to nationalise buses, and get the government on a war-footing to finally bring these waits down.”

Welsh Liberal Democrats Leader Jane Dodds MS said: “The First Minister has failed to deliver on her promise to cut NHS waiting times of over two years to “about 8,000” by spring 2025, there are still over 9,600 pathways waiting more than two years, yet another increase.

“Confidence in the NHS is low, confidence in the Welsh Labour Government is low, and the only thing that isn’t low is the number of people waiting for treatment.

“The Welsh Liberal Democrats are calling on the Welsh Government to clearly demonstrate how the additional funding from the recent spending review will be used and to ensure that money is used to tackle the crisis in social care rather than short-term firefighting.”

Former Health Minister Eluned Morgan, now First Minister, previously pledged to eliminate all two-year waits by March 2023, and then again by March 2024. Neither target has been met.

Emergency departments also remain under pressure, with only 67.1% of patients seen within four hours in May – well below the 95% target. More than 10,000 patients waited over 12 hours, and ambulance response performance remains fragile, with only 50% of red calls – the most serious emergencies – receiving a response within eight minutes.

Cymru Versus Arthritis: Utterly depressing

Mary Cowern, Head of Cymru Versus Arthritis told The Herald: “Today’s announcement of extra funding to tackle the waiting times crisis is positive news, but it is so utterly depressing to see the number of people waiting over two years for orthopaedic surgery climb again. 

“We are two years on from the initial Welsh Government target for clearing two years waits, yet some people on the waiting list now, were on the waiting list when that target was missed. Instead of clearing the backlog of patients, we now have a backlog of missed waiting times targets. 

“The misery this is causing thousands of people with arthritis in Wales as they wait for orthopaedic surgery is staggering. Tens of thousands of lives on hold, losing mobility needlessly as they wait for surgery that for many would only take 90 minutes to utterly transform their quality of life. Reducing orthopaedic waiting times needs to be a national priority.”

Government defends progress

Health Secretary Jeremy Miles acknowledged the increase in long waits but said this reflected a recurring pattern seen in April across the UK.

“It is disappointing to see the increase in long waits in April after all the progress health boards have made,” he said. “However, this is an annual trend seen in April in Wales and also the other UK nations.”

He announced a £120 million funding package to bring down waiting lists over the next year, aiming to cut up to 200,000 pathways and eliminate the remaining two-year waits by March 2026.

“This new funding will mean more and faster appointments, tests and treatments over the next 12 months. We’re asking people to do all they can to support the NHS by keeping their appointment and making sure they are fit and ready for treatment,” Mr Miles added.

The Welsh Government says it is also investing in new diagnostic centres, additional theatre capacity, virtual wards, and better coordination between hospitals and GPs.

Cancer care and ambulance pressures

Cancer performance remains below target, with only 60.5% of patients starting treatment within 62 days of first suspicion in April – down from the previous month and short of the 75% target.

Meanwhile, the Welsh Ambulance Service recorded its busiest May ever, although more than 80% of red calls were answered within 15 minutes, with a median response time still hitting the eight-minute goal.

The median waiting time for treatment across all pathways stands at 22.5 weeks – significantly higher than the 13.3 weeks recorded in England.

Senedd battlelines drawn

With Senedd elections approaching in 2026, health is expected to dominate the campaign. The Conservatives say Labour has failed to deliver on promises and wasted years. Labour says it is dealing with a post-pandemic backlog, rising demand, and a UK-wide recruitment crisis – and insists the worst is behind us.

Whether patients across Wales will feel those improvements any time soon remains to be seen.

Charity highlights postcode gap in treatment outcomes as waiting times remain well below target

CANCER patients in Wales are still facing long delays in diagnosis and treatment, with nearly 800 people waiting more than two months to start care last month, according to new NHS figures.

Macmillan Cancer Support has warned that “time is running out” to deliver on the promises made in the Welsh Government’s Cancer Improvement Plan, as the Senedd elections draw closer.

The latest figures for April show that only 60.5% of cancer patients in Wales began treatment within 62 days of first being suspected of cancer — well below the national target of 75%. Although this is an improvement on April last year, when just 55.3% were treated within the target window, Macmillan said the overall picture remains “deeply concerning.”

Rhian Stangroom-Teel, External Affairs Manager for Macmillan Wales, said: “While there have been slight improvements, far too many people are still facing unacceptably long delays for vital cancer tests and treatment.

“It’s especially painful to see that people who live in the most deprived areas of Wales are significantly more likely to die from cancer than those in the least deprived areas. And this gap is wider now than it was 20 years ago.”

In April 2025, 773 people in Wales waited more than 62 days to begin cancer treatment. The worst-performing health board was Betsi Cadwaladr at 53.5%, while Aneurin Bevan came closest to the national target at 65.3%. No performance figure was published for Powys, as most patients there are treated in neighbouring areas.

The data also showed stark differences depending on cancer type. Just 37% of people with urological cancer and 43% of those with lower gastrointestinal cancer began treatment on time, compared with 73% of breast cancer patients and 84% of skin cancer patients.

Macmillan’s research also revealed that half of cancer patients across the UK are worried that NHS pressures could affect their survival, with Wales continuing to lag behind other countries on outcomes. Survival rates for some common cancers in Wales are only now reaching the levels seen in Scandinavia two decades ago.

A Welsh Government spokesperson said the Cancer Improvement Plan is a five-year strategy and that work is underway with health boards to improve diagnostic capacity, streamline referral processes, and expand cancer nurse specialist roles.

“We are seeing some encouraging signs of progress, but we recognise more needs to be done to reduce inequalities and deliver faster care. The Cancer Improvement Plan remains a top priority,” the spokesperson said.

Macmillan is urging all political parties to commit to further investment in cancer services ahead of the 2026 Senedd elections.

Fact box

• National target: 75% of patients to start treatment within 62 days
• April 2025: 60.5% met target (up from 55.3% in April 2024)
• Worst area: Betsi Cadwaladr (53.5%)
• Best area: Aneurin Bevan (65.3%)
• Lung cancer mortality in deprived areas is 147% higher than in least deprived
• Overall cancer mortality is 52% higher in most deprived areas

For more information or support, visit www.macmillan.org.uk or call 0808 808 00 00.