Autism: Family's four-year fight to get autistic son home

The mother of an autistic man who spent four "horrendous" years in a mental health unit has spoken of her joy after he was released.

Delays in finding a suitable residence for Christine's son Elliot meant he had to stay in hospital.

The family had asked for temporary NHS help in 2018, Elliot left hospital in August.

The Department of Health and Social Care said it was trying to cut the number of autistic inpatients.

"I never thought when we picked up the phone for help that we'd still be in this situation four-and-a-half years later.

"It's been horrendous, absolutely horrendous, but fingers crossed now things will get a lot easier," said Christine.

The family had asked for help due to Elliot self-harming.

The 27-year-old now has his own property in the community with support from carers.

'Best feeling ever'

Christine, from North Yorkshire, said Elliot being in hospital meant a 140-mile round trip for family visits and was not the right place for her son.

"He's not secluded now on a ward, sitting alone by himself waiting for us to visit.

"It's just nice to have him local and near home."

She said Elliot had started feeling more settled in his new surroundings.

"He's started to set his own toys out now which he wasn't allowed to before," Christine added.

Elliot's sister Beckii said it was "the best feeling ever" to have her brother out of hospital but the fight to get Elliot a place in the community had taken a toll on the family.

Autism is a lifelong developmental disability which affects how people communicate and interact with the world. It is a spectrum condition and affects people in different ways.

In 2015, NHS England committed to closing 35-50% of inpatient beds for autistic people with or without a learning disability and to develop the right community support by 2019.

NHS figures on autistic people in hospital setting show numbers have risen from 1,105 in 2015 to 1,205 in September 2022.

The National Autistic Society (NAS) said the situation had been exacerbated by the pandemic.

Tim Nicholls, from the charity,  said: "The government must push ahead with reforming mental health law as soon as possible, but legal change alone isn't enough.

"Without a fully-funded social care system that targets investment at the support autistic people really need, this scandal won't change."

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said they had published an action plan to improve support and had targeted additional funding of more than £90m by 2023.

"This will help us reach our target to halve the number of people with a learning disability and people with autism being treated as inpatients by March 2024," they added.

If you have been affected by issues raised in the story above, visit the BBC Action Line.

Follow BBC Yorkshire on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to yorkslincs.news@bbc.co.uk.