Sara Ryan says mental health hospitals are 'like torture' after CQC report released

Speaking to the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, Sara Ryan said the isolated conditions young people are being exposed to are akin to those experienced by people being tortured. 

She said: "I think if you are locked in a room - a room that is like an office basically - if you are fed through a hatch, with no daylight, no access to any sort of interaction whatsoever, with a book being held up by a window so you can read it. I think that is pretty torturous."

Ms Ryan's son, Connor Sparrowhawk, died at Slade House in Oxford on July 4, 2013, after having an epileptic fit while left unsupervised in the bath.

She has since tirelessly campaigned to shine a light on 'systemic failings' in the care of learning disabled people and those with autism.

READ MORE: Oxford High Street parking restrictions set to be re-written

A report released today by the Care Quality Commission found at least 62 adults and children - most of whom had a diagnosis of autism - have been living in segregation in mental health hospitals for long periods of time.

One child was found to have been kept segregated from others for nearly two and half years.

The most common reasons for segregating the patients were concerns about violence and aggression or a belief that they would find it difficult to cope around others. 

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has promised a review of the cases. 

READ ALSO: JusticeforLB victory as Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust fined over Connor Sparrowhawk's death

The report also found many patients were being placed in hospitals far from home and were at risk of being 'stuck' in segregation with no attempts to reintegrate them back into main wards. 

Last year Southern Health was fined a record £2million after admitting several health and safety breaches that led to the deaths of Connor and Teresa Colvin, a 45-year-old patient who also died under the trust’s care.