Not enough being done to help learning disabled out of institutional care

By The Press Association29th January 2015News EnglandLearning Disabilities, News England, Report, Winterbourne View

A new report into treatment of people with learning disabilities does not do enough to help bring them out of institutional care and into the community, charities have said.

Mencap and the Challenging Behaviour Foundation said the report by NHS England and other authorities “will disappoint thousands of people with a learning disability and their families”.

The charities said more people were still going in than coming out of units, while many had been in them for years.

The report is the latest stage in official responses to the scandal in 2011 at the private Winterbourne View Hospital (pictured) near Bristol, where undercover filming by the BBC’s Panorama programme showed serious abuse.

Six workers were later jailed for ill-treatment and neglect.

In November, a report by Sir Stephen Bubb found that individuals were still being placed in “inappropriate institutional in-patient facilities” and called for a “charter of rights” to protect them.

He chaired an independent group which developed an action plan called Winterbourne View – Time for Change, which made a series of recommendations, including giving patients and their families the power to challenge the system and request a personal care budget.

The latest report, called Transforming Care for People with Learning Disabilities – Next Steps, sets out a series of ways in which NHS England, the Department of Health, the Local Government Association and other bodies intend to improve the quality of life of those with learning disabilities.

Plans include empowering people and their families by giving them the means to challenge their admission or continued placement in in patient care through care and treatment reviews, reducing the number of admissions and speeding up discharges, getting the right care in the right place by working with local authorities and other providers to ensure high quality community-based alternatives to hospital, and driving up the quality of care by tightening the regulation and inspection of providers.

The system-wide response is to be spearheaded by a new Transforming Care Delivery Board, made up of senior representatives from each organisation responsible for delivery.

Jane Cummings, Chief Nursing Officer England, said: “People with learning disabilities and their families have rightly demanded action on this, and there is nobody more frustrated than me that progress so far has not matched those calls.

“Providing the best and most appropriate care and support for people with learning disabilities and their families is a key priority for all the agencies involved in this report.

“There are no quick fixes, but nobody is happy with how things have been done for decades, and we are determined to drive through change quickly and safely.”

Mencap chief executive Jan Tregelles, and Viv Cooper, chief executive of the Challenging Behaviour Foundation, said: “Today’s publication by NHS England and its partners is the first recognition that collectively they understand the scale of the problem but does not do enough to take us nearer to delivering the key recommendations from the Bubb report.

“There needs to be a clear, timetabled nationwide closure programme and investment in and development of local services, so thousands of people can be brought out of inappropriate settings and returned to their local community with good support.

“It will disappoint thousands of people with a learning disability and their families, who have been fighting for their right to be supported in the community, and for changes to the way support is provided for people with a learning disability and behaviour described as challenging.

“After the scandal of abuse and neglect at Winterbourne View, the government promised change.

“Following the failure to meet the June 2014 deadline to move people out of institutions, NHS England took a lead in driving forward urgent changes.

“They commissioned Sir Stephen Bubb’s November 2014 report, which set out clear recommendations.

“Bubb called for closure of units providing inappropriate care, the development of local housing and support services, and new training initiatives to develop the right skills and expertise to commission and deliver better care and support.

“Today, these recommendations have not been adequately addressed, leaving thousands of families whose loved ones are stuck in units still wondering when change will happen.

“Alarmingly, we know more people are still going in than coming out of units, while many people have been in them for years.

“We need to see a systematic change to commissioning practices across health and social care, and joint working to create local services to both prevent in-patient admissions and enable people to return to their communities.”