Teenage boy with Aspergers missing from hospital in Beckenham
A teenage boy with Asperger’s who has been missing from a hospital since Saturday morning is unlikely to go anywhere busy because of his condition, according to his dad.
Andrew Lincoln, 19, absconded from the secure National Autistic Unit of Bethlem Royal Hospital – where he had been a patient since January – between 1.30am and 5am.
The unit is in Monks Orchard Road, Beckenham and police have advised the family to be on the look out for Andrew in the Lewisham, Bromley, West Wickham and Croydon areas.
Andrew’s dad, Richard Lincoln, 49, said: “The hospital phoned at about 8am on Saturday morning saying Andrew had gone missing. He has Asperger’s so has trouble communicating with people.
“He has no money, no phone. He may have squirreled away some food and found somewhere to hole up. There’s no friends or family in the area so I think he will still be in the same location.
“We’re trying to find him and keep our eyes open. The police have said to publicise it as much as possible but I think it will be dumb luck if we run into him.
A Metropolitan police spokeswoman said: “Officers are aware of missing teen Andrew Lincoln (19) and are currently carrying out enquiries to trace him.
“Anyone who has information or knows where Andrew is, are asked to call 101 quoting 19MIS032547.”
Vanessa Smith, interim director of nursing at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, said:“On August 17, Andrew Lincoln went missing from Bethlem Royal Hospital in Bromley. We are concerned for Mr Lincoln’s welfare as he is extremely vulnerable and are working with Andrew’s family and police to help find him.
“We would urge anyone who thinks they have seen Andrew to ring 101 or 0208 649 0145 and quote reference number 19MIS032547. Andrew is 19 years old, around 6 ft. tall and wearing a dark coat.”
The Bethlem Royal Hospital is in my opinion the most awful ” institution ” locally. My son absconded from there a year ago and the the worry and stress and how the situation was handled still troubles me today. It really is about time that this hospital is properly investigated for the lack of care given to vulnerable people. The local police told me quite casually that people abscond from there all the time. Parents etc hope their loved ones will be properly cared for and treated there but sadly this is not always the case.
Security and nursing input really needs to be reviewed at The Bethlem Royal. Far too many people abscond from there resulting in so much anguish for family and loved ones. I have personal experience of this over a year ago and it would appear that nothing has changed there despite promises to families etc.
Lack of duty of care… my daughter was brought in under a Section 2 from the Maudsley place of safety attached to Kings Hospital and transferred Bethlem Hospital, Gresham Ward 1. This ocurred after her self harming which lead to an episode in which she tried to take her life and a catalogue of other disturbing behaviours that had been escalating over several months including a recent relationship with a violent boyfriend who is wanted by the police. After only one week at the hospital i found that there was a lack of full assessment and diagnosis. Information which I gave to them was totally disregarded. They released her back to the violent boyfriend and as I have found out things are still spiralling out of control. I have raised my concerns but the Bethlem hospital have not responded. There is a lot more to this unfortunate and sad story. I would of thought that if you are under a section 2 a clear set of practices would be followed but I can see that I am wrong and the empathy, support and professionalism that the Bethlem have demonstrated will have serious consequences.