Hull Teenager With Asperger’s Sent To Cheshire Unit Because Beds Have Been Cut

A TEENAGER has been sent to Cheshire, because a mental health unit for adolescents in Hull has closed.

The 13-year-old girl, who suffers from a severe form of Asperger’s syndrome and post-traumatic stress after an alleged sexual attack, is now staying in what her mother says is a young offender’s institute, three hours away from her family.

Her mum, 40, says her daughter is living in appalling conditions in an environment not suitable for her needs.

She is also miles away from her family, which is hindering her recovery.

The girl had previously used an in-patient unit at West End Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service in Hessle Road, west Hull.

But the centre is no longer taking overnight patients, and now only provides day care.

The teen’s mum said: “She is staying in Cheadle in a place where they keep young offenders – it is basically a prison for children.

“She is ill, she shouldn’t be there.

“The staff aren’t considering her Asperger’s. They are restraining her all the time and she is being bruised.

“It’s horrific.”

The girl has been staying in Cheshire for five weeks and was sectioned and taken there on July 19.

Her family were told beds were no longer available in Hull, and units at neighbouring cities in York, Leeds and Sheffield were all full.

Her mum now has to make a three- hour train journey to see her, something she can only do twice a week.

She has to arrange childcare for her five-year-old son and pay for taxis once she arrives at the train station.

The mum said: “She needs to be near her family. If she wasn’t sectioned, I’d bring her home tomorrow.

“I’d rather try to look after her here myself than see her in there any longer.”

The West End unit was previously commissioned by NHS Hull and NHS East Riding primary care trusts, until April 2013, when such services then became the responsibility of specialised commissioning teams.

Health officials said the service had an “exceptionally low” occupancy in terms of patients and most were treated outside the area, because West End could not adequately provide for them.

MP Alan Johnson has written to NHS England on the family’s behalf, but has not received any answers.

However, a spokesman for NHS England, said: “After a local consultation, it was agreed the unit in Hull should not continue to provide in-patient provision.

“The number of young people locally who need in-patient care is very small and not enough to support high-quality in-patient care 24 hours, seven days a week. The need for traditional inpatient stays in a hospital environment is very rare.

“It is important to stress however that where such an admission is needed for a young person from Hull and the East Riding, an appropriate specialist inpatient unit bed is found to best meet the particular needs of the young person.

“There are highly specialised in-patient units in Leeds, York, Sheffield and elsewhere providing high quality and safe care round the clock.”

Referring to the 13-year-old girl in Cheshire, the spokesman said: “It would not be appropriate to comment on the specific circumstances of an individual patient, but a co-ordinated plan is being developed for their ongoing care.

“Their clinical needs and well-being remain paramount.”

MP Alan Johnson has written to David Nicholson, chief executive of NHS England, about the youngster.

He wrote: “This is an entirely unacceptable situation, unworthy of the NHS. There is obviously a shortage of these facilities.

“Two other Hull children are being held in Cheadle. There are no beds available in either York or Leeds.

“I struggle to understand why adult mental health services provide such facilities but for adolescent mental health, where if anything the need is greater in terms of being close to family members, we are now bereft of any holding facility whatsoever.”