Tag Archives: social care
Easy News: an extract on the Winterbourne View abuse scandal
A newspaper by and for people with learning disabilities
Care home abuse exposed
In 2011 the BBC showed a programme called Panorama which upset a lot of people.
It showed people with learning disabilities being abused by care workers in a private hospital.
The hospital was called Winterbourne View. After the programme, it was investigated by the police.
In 2012, 11 care workers were put on trial to decide if they were guilty of crimes.
Six care workers have now gone to jail.
Five others have been given suspended sentences. This means they do not go to prison unless they get into trouble again.
The Judge said that if the BBC had not shown the abuse, the staff would have carried on being cruel.
Change in the law is needed to protect vulnerable people
Care workers also deserve better pay and training to prevent future cases of abuse and neglect
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Jonathan Wheeler
- Guardian Professional,
Calls to press ahead with plans to hold corporate bodies – boards, directors and senior managers – to account for any abuse or neglect that is found to have taken place in care homes and hospitals are no surprise. However, all those who work in the sector will know that unlimited fines and criminal sanctions is not enough.
Speaking in parliament last week, Paul Burstow MP, the former care services minister, introduced a new bill to amend the Health and Social Care Act 2008 to include a new offence of corporate neglect. He said the “new law would act as a deterrent” and all health and social care professionals will be hoping this is true. They will also probably be pleased by the apparent pace of change, coming so soon after the findings of the Winterbourne View investigation were published.
As an abuse lawyer who regularly handles claims on behalf of children and vulnerable adults who have been resident in care homes or other institutions, I have heard too many accounts of abuse that for some reason or other have been unheeded by those in charge. This is unacceptable and a change in the law is urgently needed to address this.
