Pressure must be kept up to drive change in learning disability care
27 July 2011
The Panorama programme on Winterbourne View was broadcast
nearly 2 months ago now. Amid much outcry, investigations have
begun, with the talk of such things never being allowed to happen
again. But since then, on the ground, has anything changed for
people with learning disabilities in residential facilities? No.
But then that's no surprise. The government was never going to rush
through any legislation off the back of the Winterbourne View
scandal, despite it highlighting that change is needed to the
learning disability residential care model and to the regime that
inspects it. Change is always a relatively long-term process - the
wheels of government never turn quickly - but the learning
disability sector cannot afford to let the pressure up on
government and the regulator to ensure that change does happen.
From what I've heard from contacts in the sector - including
service users - the consensus is that there will be another
Winterbourne View-style scandal at some point in the near future.
And it needs to be stopped. To this end, the National Autistic
Society (NAS) handed in a 10,000-signature strong petition
to Parliament last week calling on the government to review the
inspection process for vulnerable adults living in residential
care. Looking at the major points of the NAS' petition, all of them
struck me as being obvious. For example, having robust and rigorous
recruitment procedures and ensuing staff have relevant and specific
knowledge of the disabilities they are dealing with to help support
individuals appropriately would seem like pre-requisites for any
service provider. However, as Winterbourne View demonstrated, they
aren't. And they need to be - and the inspection regime needs to
ensure that they are, and the government has to give the resources
to the Care Quality Commission to ensure inspectors can do this
effectively. Handing in this petition is a good way to keep the
issue in the public eye and the pressure on government - that the
signatures were garnered in less than two weeks shows the strength
of feeling on the issue. But this needs to continue. Whether it is
more petitions, online campaigns, news releases or any other ways
of generating news and publicity the issue has to be maintained in
the public eye. We are now in holiday season, Parliament is in
recess, and the mainstream news agenda has moved on, so it is easy
for things to drift, but this must not be allowed to happen. If it
does, there is the danger that the agenda for change may also
drift, until such time as the next Winterbourne View hits the
headlines, and the outcry and promises of change begin all over
again.
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