People with learning disabilities still being left in 'institutions' despite Winterbourne View scandal

Mencap and The Challenging Behaviour Foundation have called the lack of progress in the care of people with learning disabilities ‘shocking’, after the ‘Learning Disability Census’ revealed nearly a quarter cared for in hospital have been there for over five years.

The Census revealed that the number of people with a learning disability in hospital inpatient units since 2010 has hardly changed. In the 2010 Census for England there were found to be 3,376 people and in 2013 the number is 3,250.

Sixty per cent (1,949) of these people have been in units for one year or more and nearly a quarter have been in the units for five years or more.

In the South West, over half of people are in units 100kms or more from home (80 people). In the North East just under 8.8 per cent of people are in units 100Km or more from home (29 people).

Jan Tregelles, chief executive of Mencap, and Vivien Cooper, chief executive of The Challenging Behaviour Foundation, said: “Finally, The Learning Disability Census Report, which shows how many people with a learning disability across the country are still in places like Winterbourne View, has been published.

“What it reveals is alarming – that the pace of progress has been distressingly slow. This is undermining the confidence of families in the Government process as they are increasingly concerned it will continue to fail to protect their loved ones.

“It is now two and half years since the Winterbourne View scandal and the census and progress report show nothing has changed. Many people with a learning disability are still in in-patient units hundreds of miles away from their homes and many have been there for over a year or more.

“We recently found out that 13 people who were at Winterbourne View are still in in-patient units and the census reveals that this is only the tip of the iceberg. If the Government cannot get it right for even the 48 people who were at Winterbourne View, what chance is there for the 3,250 people stuck in similar units?”

They called it “shocking” and said: “We have been granted a once in a lifetime opportunity post Winterbourne View to get care right. If the Government and local areas don’t stop dithering, we will miss this unique opportunity. In so doing, they continue to fail not only people with a learning disability, but everyone who saw or heard about what happened at Winterbourne View and demanded change.”

The Government released its report ‘Winterbourne View: Transforming Care – One Year On’ on the same day as the ‘Learning Disability Census’.

Care and Support Minister, Norman Lamb, said it is "not acceptable" for people with learning disabilities to live in institutions if with support they can live in their own community.

He added that we need to pick up the “pace if we are to make sure no patient finds themselves in inappropriate care settings beyond June 2014” and said: “I make no apologies for this impatience. It would be an insult to the experience of those who suffered at Winterbourne View - and to all those who have suffered at the hands of the cruel and the cowardly –if we were to fail.

“More broadly, the public deserves the candour, transparency and accountability they were denied before. They want peace of mind their loved ones are being treated with dignity and respect at all times and they deserve that reassurance now. Dishonesty – like failure – is not an option.”

In 2012, 11 care workers admitted a total of 38 charges relating to the abuse and neglect of patients at Winterbourne View hospital. Six of the care workers were sent to prison and the others received suspended sentences. They were caught after being secretly filmed by BBC Panorama abusing patients at the home, which cared for people with severe learning difficulties.