We shouldn’t need Lolly’s Law, but sadly we do. Last week, I led a Westminster Hall Debate to urge Health Minister Karin Smyth to take forward this proposal and save families the heartache that my constituents the Bridges’ have been forced to endure.
Lauren Bridges – known to her family and friends as Lolly – was just a teenager when she died alone in a mental health facility hundreds of miles away from her Bournemouth home. Her mum Lindsay had been fighting to get her a placement closer to home, after
she was detained under the Mental Health Act and sent to a facility six-hour’s drive away near Manchester – but her efforts were in vain.
Lauren was bright, compassionate, a straight-A student who dreamed of becoming a doctor or a paediatric nurse. She was also autistic, and like many girls and young women with autism, she faced serious challenges in getting the right support. She was misdiagnosed
with a personality disorder and put on a treatment pathway that failed to recognise her challenges with autism.
Within months Lauren was dead. Let down by the very system designed to protect and support her. Sadly, Lauren isn’t the only young woman to die in this facility in recent years, but Lindsey wants to make sure she’s the last. She told me: “Lauren’s death was
not inevitable, it was preventable.”
There are now over 2,000 people with a learning disability and/or autism detained in similar inpatient units across the UK – often far from home, cut off from their families, and placed in highly restrictive environments that frequently do more harm than good.
That’s why I’ve been working with Lindsey to push for a change in the law that could prevent further tragedies. Lolly’s Law is centred around four urgent reforms informed by what Lauren would’ve benefit from to keep her safe:
- Mandatory retraining for psychiatric professionals and support staff, so they have a proper understanding of how autism presents in girls and women. Too often, like Lauren, these young people are misdiagnosed with personality disorders or wrongly pathologised.
- Reassessment of “personality disorder” diagnoses where autism might be missed.
There needs to be a national reassessment programme to identify cases of misdiagnosis and provide appropriate support for those affected. And the evidence already shows that where females inpatients diagnosed with EUPD and/or eating disorders are reassessed
for autism, 100% receive a diagnosis. - Specialist suicide prevention and self-harm teams must be available in all mental health units for vulnerable young people. These should be multidisciplinary teams trained specifically in females with autism.
- Anti-ligature doors and safety infrastructure must be mandated across all inpatient mental health facilities. These are basic safeguards that can and do save lives.
Over 225,000 people have signed a petition for Lolly’s Law – clear proof of the public demand for action. My Westminster Hall Debate took the discussion to Parliament.
Alongside the push to change the law, Lindsey has also developed a training course for CAMHS professionals, solicitors, and others involved in mental health decision-making, which has already been shared with some providers. She is backed by the Children and
Young People’s Mental Health Coalition, Emotional Dysregulation Autism, the Abbey Clinic and many other respected voices in this space.
It’s clear that the current system is failing young people with autism. The number of people in long-term institutional care remains stubbornly high. It fails to distinguish between autism and mental illness. It overuses restraint and seclusion. It separates
children from their families, often for extended periods.
Families like the Bridges are exhausted. Parents like Lindsey are forced into campaign roles they never asked for, because they have been let down so completely by the very institutions meant to protect their children. Lindsey’s courage in the face of unimaginable
loss is truly incredible and now it’s our role as policymakers to take action.
It is absolutely within our power to build a better system. A system where care means
connection, not containment. A system that understands autism – not one that punishes or isolates those who live with it. The system Lauren and every other young person needs, and deserves.
