The story of a Kemnay man who has been kept in Scotland’s state psychiatric hospital for more than a decade will be told on the BBC tonight.
Kyle Gibbon, who suffers from ADHD and a learning disability related to autism, has been in Carstairs since he was 18.
The 34-year-old is one of nine people to be currently locked behind closed doors at the high security hospital – despite having no criminal conviction when he went in.
His mother Tracey has long campaigned for his release, and has argued that being held alongside rapists and killers does not support his condition.
Mr Gibbon was originally a patient at Royal Cornhill in Aberdeen and had been due to move into supported accommodation.
But, following concerns for his care, he was sectioned and transferred to the South Lanarkshire facility in 2009.
Dozens of people locked up in psychiatric hospitals
An investigation by BBC Scotland Disclosure has now discovered Mr Gibbon is not the only one to spend most if his life in psychiatric wards – despite the government’s claims everyone should be living independently in the community.
A freedom of information request has revealed at least 40 people have been in hospital for more than 10 years and at least 128 for more than a year.
In the documentary Disclosure: Locked in the Hospital, Mr Gibbon’s mother described the “horrific” moment when she was told her son will not leave the psychiatric hospital.
She told Disclosure: “We were just waiting for this movement into his flat. We were going to go down to the flat to see his new sofa. So as usual I just went up to the hospital to pick him up.
“When I arrived there I was told that he wasn’t getting out. I thought, ‘what’s happening? Why is he not getting out?’.”
Ms Gibbon said she was told her son was no longer allowed to leave the hospital and their visit was cancelled.
She continued: “I got put into a side room with Kyle and he said ‘I haven’t done anything, mum, I don’t know what’s wrong, I’m not getting out.’
“He became very emotional and upset. He grabbed a hold of me and he went ‘Don’t let me go’ and I said ‘You’ll be OK’.
“And the next thing I know, staff piled into this room. Took me down on the ground with Kyle, and injected him in front of me. I was absolutely horrified. I couldn’t believe it.”
Kyle was accused of trashing his room and assaulting a doctor. The next time Ms Gibbon saw her son, he was in Carstairs.
People with learning disabilities should be at home – not hospital
For the last 13 years, she has been fighting the hospital to release Mr Gibbon, however she has been told he is now considered “too high risk”.
The Disclosure team found hundreds of other people with learning disabilities and or autism are still living far from family, locked in psychiatric wards or other units.
And a total of 15 people have been living in Scottish hospitals for more than 20 years.
The BBC investigation shows NHS Lothian has a patient who has been in for more than 25 years, while NHS Forth Valley has a patient who has been in for 19 years.
NHS Grampian also has someone who has been in for more than 18 years.
The three health boards have said they cannot discuss the details of individual cases because of patient confidentiality and that it can be challenging to find community places for those with the most complex needs.
Dr Anne Macdonald, the Scottish Government adviser on learning disabilities, told the programme: “It might be possible that viewers would think that maybe people with complex support needs need to be in hospital, or that that’s the best place for them.
“And in actual fact, that’s not the case. It’s absolutely not acceptable that people are living in hospital when there’s no clinical reason for them to be there.
“A hospital is not a home, and it’s a human rights issue to have a home and to be able to have a connection with your family.
“There should be an element of urgency about it. We shouldn’t just be accepting it as status quo. We need to be working harder on this, and doing better.”
Disclosure: Locked in the Hospital will air at 8pm on Monday on BBC One Scotland.
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