Parents protest to get their their sons home from hospital

Parents protest to let them bring their sons home from hospital

Fraser Malcolm age 20 is just one of the young men whose families are taking their protests to the Scottish Parliament.

They say their sons are cruelly locked in hospitals, where they have far fewer rights and sometimes struggle to access basics such as time outside in the fresh air.

Fraser Malcolm has been in a secure hospital in Ayrshire for two-and-a-half years but has been recorded as "delayed discharge" since September 2022.

This means he has been cleared by doctors to be released but no arrangements have been made for him to live in the community.

The 20-year-old has a learning disability and is almost non-verbal, with complex care needs.

In February 2022, the Scottish government published the Coming Home Report, a major paper on people like Jamie and Fraser, with a "mission to significantly reduce delayed discharge… for adults with learning disabilities and complex care needs by March 2024."

The families say not enough is being done to deliver on the recommendations of the report to bring people like their sons home and to give them a voice.

They are calling on the Scottish government and politicians to do more so that young men like Fraser can live in the community with the right support.

The Scottish government says it introduced a Dynamic Support Register earlier this year, designed to get a fuller picture of the hundreds of people like Fraser who may have become stuck in the system.