Government could order independent inquiry into Winterbourne View abuse

BBC’s Panorama programme used undercover reporter to film patients being pinned down and slapped at care home near Bristol

The government has not ruled out an independent inquiry into the abuse of adults with learning disabilities at the Winterbourne View care home near Bristol, the health minister, Paul Burstow, has told MPs.

Burstow said ministers wanted to avoid prejudicing the criminal investigation that is under way and to ensure they had all the facts of the case before deciding whether to order a full independent review into the care of adults with learning disabilities at the residential hospital.

He told the Commons: “For the avoidance of doubt, we have not ruled out an independent inquiry.”

The health minister set out the measures already taken after being asked an urgent question by Labour’s Emily Thornberry about why the government had decided not to hold “an external independent inquiry” into the matter.

She said “full and frank answers” about what had happened at the care home were needed.

Last week, the Care Quality Commission issued an unreserved apology for failing to act on warnings by the whistleblower Terry Bryan about abuse at the home.

The BBC’s Panorama programme used an undercover reporter to film patients being pinned down, slapped, doused in cold water and repeatedly taunted.

Burstow told MPs: “Nobody watching the BBC Panorama programme last week could have been anything but shocked and appalled by the systematic abuse of residents at Winterbourne View.

“May I first extend my deepest sympathies, and those of all my colleagues in government, to those so horribly mistreated and abused and to all their families and loved ones.

“Now, for the avoidance of doubt, we have not ruled out an independent inquiry. A criminal investigation is under way, and it is important that we do nothing that could prejudice it.

“Once in possession of the full facts, and once the police investigation has concluded, we will be in a position to decide what further action is required. “

Burstow said the CQC would inspect the other 22 hospitals run by Castlebeck and make the reports available on its website. “Where they identify inadequate care, the CQC will require the necessary improvements to be made immediately,” he said.

South Gloucestershire council would also lead an independently chaired serious case review, and Mark Goldring, the chief executive of Mencap, would help officials at the Department of Health to investigate the findings of the inquiries, Burstow said.

Earlier, the Labour leader, Ed Miliband said reviews by the Care Quality Commission and South Gloucestershire council were not enough, because both bodies had been involved in the failure.

Miliband said he had been “shocked” by scenes, adding: “There must be an independent investigation into what happened and what lessons need to be learned, and the government should announce it straight away.” He offered to hold cross-party talks with the government about the future provision of adult social care.

Miliband highlighted some of the problems that have surfaced in the care system and said that, with the government’s Dilnot commission on adult social care due to report next month, made a “serious offer” to David Cameron to engage in talks about its recommendations.

He conceded that “every serious attempt” to solve the pressing challenge of social care provision had foundered on a failure to find a political consensus, but said he would come to a new round of talks with an “open mind” to ensure British people got “the serious debate they deserve, so they can get the care system they deserve”.

Speaking at a press conference in London, Miliband cited a previous attempt to reach an agreement on the future of social care which collapsed in early 2010 after the Conservatives accused Gordon Brown of planning to levy a £20,000 “death tax” on estates to fund a national care service.

“We will come to those talks with an open mind about the best way forward, not simply advocating what we have proposed in the past,” he said.

Cameron later said he welcomed the prospect of talks. “If there is an opportunity for cross-party work … I will be very happy to work on them [with Labour],” he said at a press conference on the NHS.

Miliband also highlighted the problems at the care homes operator Southern Cross, saying residents appeared to have been treated “merely as commodities”, by financiers.

Southern Cross – which is responsible for looking after 31,000 elderly residents – has announced that it will underpay its rent for the next four months as it struggles with a £230m annual rental bill.

The business secretary, Vince Cable, said on Monday that he had asked officials to investigate the role of private equity firms supplying public services. He called the financial turmoil at Southern Cross a “shocking state of affairs”.

In the Lords, the broadcaster Joan Bakewell called on the government to take “the most urgent steps” to relieve the suffering of neglected old and frail people.

Lady Bakewell, a Labour peer who served as the previous government’s pensioners’ tsar, urged the health minister, Earl Howe, to “take the most urgent steps as soon as possible to relieve the suffering of people old and frail and dependent who are currently suffering much neglect”.

Howe said the government would take “whatever action is necessary” to protect the welfare of care home residents.

He added: “Southern Cross has plans in place to restructure its business and is keeping the government updated on its progress.”

He said concerns over Southern Cross related not just to the quality of care but “much more to its business situation, its financial situation and the future of the residents involved”.

“I can assure you we are taking this very seriously,” he said. “We are in touch with all the relevant parties, and have been for several months.”