The Winterbourne View hospital inquiry occurred at Winterbourne View, a private hospital at

Hambrook Hambrook is a village in South Gloucestershire, England, situated on the north-eastern outskirts of the city of Bristol. It lies between the larger communities of Winterbourne and Frenchay and is part of the Civil Parish of Winterbourne. A sm ...

South Gloucestershire South Gloucestershire is a unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, South West England. Towns in the area include Yate, Chipping Sodbury, Thornbury, Filton, Patchway and Bradley Stoke, the latter three forming ...

, England, owned and operated by Castlebeck. A ''

Panorama A panorama (formed from Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography, film, seismic images, or 3D modeling. The word was originally coined i ...

'' investigation, broadcast on television in 2011, exposed the

physical Physical may refer to: * Physical examination, a regular overall check-up with a doctor * ''Physical'' (Olivia Newton-John album), 1981 ** "Physical" (Olivia Newton-John song) * ''Physical'' (Gabe Gurnsey album) * "Physical" (Alcazar song) (2004) * ...

and

psychological abuse Psychological abuse, often called emotional abuse, is a form of abuse characterized by a person subjecting or exposing another person to a behavior that may result in psychological trauma, including anxiety, chronic depression, or post-traumat ...

suffered by people with

learning disabilities Learning disability, learning disorder, or learning difficulty (British English) is a condition in the brain that causes difficulties comprehending or processing information and can be caused by several different factors. Given the "difficult ...

and

challenging behaviour Challenging behaviour, also known as behaviours which challenge, is defined as "culturally abnormal behaviour(s) of such intensity, frequency or duration that the physical safety of the person or others is placed in serious jeopardy, or behaviou ...

at the hospital Local social services and the English national regulator (

Care Quality Commission The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care of the United Kingdom. It was established in 2009 to regulate and inspect health and social care services in England. I ...

) had received various warnings but the mistreatment continued. One senior nurse, Terry Bryan, reported his concerns to the management at Winterbourne View and to CQC, but his complaint was not taken up. The publicly funded hospital was shut down as a result of the abuse that took place.

Abuse

The undercover footage showed staff repeatedly assaulting and harshly restraining patients under chairs. Staff gave one patient cold showers as a punishment, left her outside in near zero temperatures, and later poured mouthwash into her eyes. They pulled patients' hair and forced medication into their mouths. Victims were shown screaming and shaking; one patient was seen trying to jump out of a second-floor window to escape the torment, and was mocked by staff members afterwards. Another patient was repeatedly poked in the eyes. A clinical psychologist who reviewed the footage described the abuse as "torture".

Reaction

On 21 June 2011, 86 people and organisations wrote to the Prime Minister,

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...

, about the revelations: "We are aware of the various actions currently being taken within and outside government – such as the DH review and CQC internal inquiry. We hope to make submissions to those both individually and collectively. However, on their own these will not be enough and a clear programme is needed to achieve change." Cameron responded by saying he was "appalled" at the "catalogue of abuses" uncovered by the BBC TV series ''

''. In June 2011 the Association of Supported Living issued a press statement, which was followed up in writing to every member of parliament in the United Kingdom, calling for community based supported living services to replace institutional services for people with learning disabilities. The ''

Daily Telegraph Daily or The Daily may refer to: Journalism * Daily newspaper, newspaper issued on five to seven day of most weeks * ''The Daily'' (podcast), a podcast by ''The New York Times'' * ''The Daily'' (News Corporation), a defunct US-based iPad new ...

'' said, "It is impossible to read the details of what went on at Winterbourne View, a care home for the severely disabled in Gloucestershire, without feeling repelled. In the wake of an exposé from the BBC's Panorama, 11 members of staff were convicted of almost 40 charges of neglect and ill treatment of those in their care."

Systemic failings

The national regulator, the CQC did a nationwide check on facilities owned by the same company, Castlebeck Care, and as a result three more institutions were closed. The CQC reported a "systemic failure to protect people or to investigate allegations of abuse" and said that Castlebeck Care had "misled" the health watchdog. The CQC also came under criticism for failing to respond to early warnings of abuse at the care home. It initially blamed Winterbourne managers who, the CQC said, "effectively misled us by not keeping us informed about incidents". However, it later emerged that managers had officially alerted the CQC to numerous allegations of staff abusing patients, dating back to February 2008, which were also reported to the police, but did not lead to any convictions.

Investigations

The CQC also inspected 132 similar institutions and a

Serious Case Review A serious case review (SCR) in England is held after a child or vulnerable adult dies or is seriously injured under circumstances where abuse or neglect are thought to have been involved. Its purpose is to learn lessons to help prevent future simi ...

was commissioned – some of the roughly ten local and national enquiries were carried out to examine what went wrong, including one by NHS Southwest which was one of the first to be published and list many of the others. The head of the Care Quality Commission resigned ahead of a critical government report, a report in which Winterbourne View was cited.

Mencap The Royal Mencap Society is a charity based in the United Kingdom that works with people with a learning disability. Its Charity Number is 222377. History Established by Judy Fryd in 1946 as The National Association of Parents of Backwards Ch ...

published a report warning that similar abuse could be going on elsewhere, and calling for the closure of all large institutions far from patients' families.

Convictions

Eleven people pleaded guilty to criminal offences of

neglect In the context of caregiving, neglect is a form of abuse where the perpetrator, who is responsible for caring for someone who is unable to care for themselves, fails to do so. It can be a result of carelessness, indifference, or unwillingness a ...

abuse Abuse is the improper usage or treatment of a thing, often to unfairly or improperly gain benefit. Abuse can come in many forms, such as: physical or verbal maltreatment, injury, assault, violation, rape, unjust practices, crimes, or other t ...

as a result of evidence from Undercover Care, and six of them were jailed. Immediately after the eleventh person pleaded guilty, the Serious Case Review was published, revealing hundreds of previous incidents at the hospital, and warnings that were missed.

Media

The BBC programme ''Panorama'' produced an investigation documentary depicting the violations at Winterbourne View Hospital titled "Undercover Care: The Abuse Exposed".

References

External links

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