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The CQC is calling for an independent review of every person who is being held in segregation in mental health wards for children & young people and wards for people with a learning disability or autism.

These reviews should examine the quality of care, the safeguards to protect the person and the plans for discharge.  The CQC makes the recommendation in an interim report in which it shares early findings from its review, which was commissioned by the Secretary of State for Health & Social Care, also highlights the need for a better system of care for people with a learning disability or autism who are, or are at risk of, being hospitalised & segregated.

From an information request sent to providers CQC was told of 62 people who were in segregation.  This included 42 adults and 20 children & young people – some as young as 11 years old.  Sixteen people had been in segregation for a year or more - one person had spent almost a decade in segregation.  The longest period spent in segregation by a child or young person was 2.4 years.