National response to Winterbourne View care home scandal will see providers held to account

Care services minister Norman Lamb has announced the changes he wants to see to ensure that shocking abuse recorded at Bristol’s Winterbourne View, in 2011, does not happen again.

Filmed by a BBC Panorama undercover operation, the mistreatment of adults with learning disabilities at the care home caused shock and outrage when broadcast, resulting in prison sentences for six individuals employed at the facility.

In ‘Transforming care: A national response to Winterbourne View Hospital’, Mr Lamb describes the challenges ahead as “about promoting a culture and a way of working that actively challenges poor practice and promotes compassionate care across the system”.

In achieving this vision, he states that providers can expect more robust action to failings.

He writes: ‘First and foremost, where serious abuse happens, there should be serious consequences for those responsible.

‘At Winterbourne View, the staff had committed criminal acts, and six were imprisoned as a result. However, the Serious Case Review showed a wider catalogue of failings at all levels, both from the operating company and across the wider system.

‘When failure occurs, repercussions should be felt at all levels of an organisation. Through proposed changes to the regulatory framework, we will send a clear message to owners, Directors and Board members: the care and welfare of residents is your active responsibility, so expect to be held to account if abuse or neglect takes place.

Mr Lamb also demands that those involved with care placements consider the long-term implications of their decisions, stating:

‘Winterbourne View also exposed some wider issues in the care system. There are far too many people with learning disabilities or autism staying too long in hospital or residential homes, and even though many are receiving good care in these settings, many should not be there and could lead happier lives elsewhere. This practice must end.

‘We should no more tolerate people being placed in inappropriate care settings than we would people receiving the wrong cancer treatment. That is why I am asking councils and clinical commissioning groups to put this right as a matter of urgency.’

Earlier this month Bristol Crown Court heard that one of the support workers involved in the abuse had suffered a broken jaw after being attacked in a pub, in an incident that occurred due a disagreement relating to the documentary.

Winterbourne View care home itself was closed after the documentary aired and is currently being refurbished by another healthcare provider.