One person stuck in long-stay hospital who took part in the research said: “I have my days when it gets me down you know, like, why am I still here?... I’ve had about four places that have come to assess me, but they’ve all turned me down. They turned me down because I don’t have a learning difficulty, so I don’t fit [the] criteria and because I don’t fit [the] criteria, the commissioners won’t accept me.”
Another person said: “I just want to move on really - I cry in my room. I’m so far away from my mum.”
As part of the project, Ikon Gallery in Birmingham is hosting an exhibition of the same name, ‘Why Are We Stuck in Hospital?’ Featuring the work of Birmingham-based artist and activist Foka Wolf, the exhibition illustrates the invisibility of people with learning disabilities and autistic people in long-stay hospitals. The exhibition runs from 7th March – 19th March.
Linzi Stauvers, Acting Artistic Director, Education, at Ikon said: "As we have come to expect from Foka Wolf, this new artwork is straight to the point. It challenges us to think for ourselves and act on behalf of our community. It’s also graphic, colourful and highly theatrical, shining a light on the creativity of the thousands of people incarcerated in hospital settings.”
Jayne Leeson MBE, Chief Executive at Changing Our Lives commented: “Planning and advocating alongside people with learning disabilities and autistic people who find themselves in hospital, and working as part of a wider team to ensure these individuals move into their own homes, has given the team in Changing Our Lives a front row seat in what we consider to be one of the biggest health and social care scandals of the two decades.
“Recognising the injustice of this situation, we were very happy to work with the University of Birmingham on this much needed research, which as Jon Glasby rightly says, has listened to and gathered the thoughts and experiences of the people who have personal experience of living within these locked hospital settings."
Professor Glasby concluded: “Most people want to come out of hospital and to live an ordinary life – and this doesn’t feel like much to ask. Although we look back with horror at the old asylums, future generations will look back at us and find the current situation barbaric. People’s lives are on hold, and no one thinks this is good enough.”