15-year-old Matthew Garnett has been in a secure mental unit for the past six months even though he has been cleared to be transferred to new unit. 

 

Matthews’ father, Robin Garnett, told BBC Radio 4’s Today, that he is unable to track down who is in charge before adding that his son thinks he is in prison, saying he “sees it as a punishment for what he did six months ago.”

 

Matthew, who has "autism, learning difficulties, ADHD, along with complex and yet un-assessed mental health difficulties", physically attacked his father in September and was sectioned to the mental health treatment in Surrey, a measure that his father says was their only option at the time.

 

“Our assumption was that was a temporary holding measure, probably for a matter of days, weeks at most,” Robin said to the presenter.

 

 

Explaining that there is a place available for the teenager at St. Andrew’s Healthcare in Northampton , Matthew has yet to be moved as the “beds are blocked”.

 

The Garnett family has started an online petition to put pressure on the Department of Health to move the teen, and to date it has raised just under 200,000 signatures.  

 

“We felt we had to do something after half a year,” explained Robin for the reason behind the petition.

 

"His chances of recovery are diminishing every day that the NHS fails to provide him with the appropriate care he urgently needs. Matthew’s deteriorated since he has been in the PICU and staff have themselves admitted that unit cannot appropriately care for him," Matthew's mum Isabelle said in the petition. 

 

A spokesman for NHS England told the BBC: “We have every sympathy for Matthew and his family and we understand that this has been a very difficult time. It has been confirmed that Matthew will be moved to St Andrew’s, where he will be able to receive the specialist care that he needs. We anticipate this will happen in a matter of weeks but cannot confirm an admission date at this point.”

 

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