On the same day (13th Dec 2013) that the Dept of Health published its official report ‘Winterbourne View: transforming care one year on’ there appeared an excellent article in the Daily Telegraph on the same subject, which initially escaped our attention.
The article summarised the views of two individuals involved in bringing events to light and in dealing with the consequences: Joe Plomin, the Panorama producer who exposed the abuse and Dr Margaret Flynn, who chaired an official review. It also offered an excellent analysis of the current ‘state of play’ post-Winterbourne.
Both Plomin and Flynn warn not enough is being done to prevent a repetition. The reason? As the article says “The government’s Final Review and Concordat set out clear milestones for local areas to transform the ways in which they support people with learning disabilities, with autism and mental health problems. Over a year later, there are believed to be over 3000 people with a learning disability in in-patient units. This is no fewer than in 2010.This is particularly concerning since the creation of such units is not government policy, and since these patients are out of sight, they are at risk of abuse and neglect.”
The article is comprehensive, and depressing in its conclusions. It is also accurate in its terminology: unlike much of the media coverage, it makes clear Winterbourne View’s correct status: it was not a ‘care home’ but a hospital, registered as an assessment and treatment unit. The reader is however led to ask why so many persons with learning disabilities in ‘assessment and treatment units’ become ‘long-term residents’. The article asserts that ‘some people have spent more than 20 years in assessment and treatment units'(!)
The concluding assertion of the article was: ‘Evidence shows us that Assessment and Treatment units and hospitals should never become people’s homes by default’.
Addendum (Jan 2014):
The statistics cited in the Telegraph article derive from data collected by the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC), which in September 2013 conducted the ‘Learning Disability Census’.
The Summary and Key Facts of HSCIC’s Census Report make interesting reading. Family and other carers should note the following Key Fact: ‘Maintaining contacts with family, friends, advocates and commissioners helps ensure that inpatient stays remain suitable for service users’ needs. Overall, providers could not supply a valid residential postcode for 910 people (28.0 per cent of inpatients).’