Abuse at leading care home leads to police inspections of private hospitals

Inspectors have been called in to private hospitals that care for people with learning disabilities after exposure of a regime of shocking abuse by staff at a unit run by one of Britain's leading care companies.

The chief executive of the company, Castlebeck, said he was ashamed of what had gone on at the unit. Thirteen employees have been suspended and police have arrested three men and one woman as part of an ongoing investigation.

Care services minister Paul Burstow said he was shocked by the revelations and had authorised a series of random, unannounced inspections of similar units by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the sector regulator which has itself apologised for failing to act on earlier tipoffs about the Castlebeck facility. Critics of the government's NHS reforms will seize on the implications for the proposal to allow "any qualified provider" to supply healthcare in the same way as in social care, where private companies and charities dominate the market.

The regime of abuse at the Winterbourne View unit, in Hambrook, near Bristol, was exposed by the BBC Panorama programme. An undercover reporter was taken on as an unqualified support worker and filmed secretly for four weeks as some of his fellow workers routinely slapped and kicked patients, pinning them to the floor and drenching them with cold water.

The unit is purportedly an assessment hospital for adults with profound learning disabilities or autism, but most of the patients had lived there for more than a year – each at a cost to the public purse of £3,500 a week – and there appeared to have been little activity or stimulation.

In one scene in the programme, a male support worker seems to goad a female patient to throw herself out of a second-floor window. He says: "Go on, do it now I'm here. I'd love to see you try it: you will go flying. … When you hit the floor, do you reckon you will make a thud or a splat?"

In another scene, a second male support worker is seen to act as a Nazi camp commandant, repeatedly slapping a patient across the face with a pair of leather gloves and saying: "Nein, nein, nein!"

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/may/31/abuse-at-leading-care-home

That this abuse is funded by the tax payer is disgusting. Last year the company made £31,300,300 profit and the salry breakdown is as follows

Number of staff: 1,100

Total spent on wages: £23,823,000.00

Average staff pay: £21,657.27 *

Number of directors: 30

Directors' remuneration: £741,000.00

Increase over last 7 years: 82.06%

Highest paid director's salary: £253,000.00 **

Increase over last 7 years: 94.62%

Apparently there is no company union so unlike non-private care homes staff cannot join UNISON, UNITE, etc so should they want to blow the whistle on bad practices then they will receive no union backing.

Yet another reason, that services like this, should be run for the good of the Country/patient and NOT for the good of shareholders!

http://www.bnp.org.uk/policies/economics

Seren wrote:Inspectors have been called in to private hospitals that care for people with learning disabilities after exposure of a regime of shocking abuse by staff at a unit run by one of Britain's leading care companies.

The chief executive of the company, Castlebeck, said he was ashamed of what had gone on at the unit. Thirteen employees have been suspended and police have arrested three men and one woman as part of an ongoing investigation.

Care services minister Paul Burstow said he was shocked by the revelations and had authorised a series of random, unannounced inspections of similar units by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the sector regulator which has itself apologised for failing to act on earlier tipoffs about the Castlebeck facility. Critics of the government's NHS reforms will seize on the implications for the proposal to allow "any qualified provider" to supply healthcare in the same way as in social care, where private companies and charities dominate the market.

The regime of abuse at the Winterbourne View unit, in Hambrook, near Bristol, was exposed by the BBC Panorama programme. An undercover reporter was taken on as an unqualified support worker and filmed secretly for four weeks as some of his fellow workers routinely slapped and kicked patients, pinning them to the floor and drenching them with cold water.

The unit is purportedly an assessment hospital for adults with profound learning disabilities or autism, but most of the patients had lived there for more than a year – each at a cost to the public purse of £3,500 a week – and there appeared to have been little activity or stimulation.

In one scene in the programme, a male support worker seems to goad a female patient to throw herself out of a second-floor window. He says: "Go on, do it now I'm here. I'd love to see you try it: you will go flying. … When you hit the floor, do you reckon you will make a thud or a splat?"

In another scene, a second male support worker is seen to act as a Nazi camp commandant, repeatedly slapping a patient across the face with a pair of leather gloves and saying: "Nein, nein, nein!"

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/may/31/abuse-at-leading-care-home

and at the end of all the enquireis and mutterings...recomendations will be made, and ignored...and it will happen again, and the REAL guilty ones......our beloved parliament, will wash its collective hands and say "nowt to do with me guv"

Good afternoon Folks.

My mother is in a care home which specializes in dealing with dementia patients.

And I'm glad to say that she is treated very well there & seems to be happy.The actual facilities are not brilliant as they are quite basic compared to higher funded establishments.But from what I can see & deduce myself,the staff are caring which counts for 99% of the care home running.

I think that it's important that the residents are visited regularly as family visits keep the staff on their toes,so to speak.With that I'm not implying that my mother would be cared for any less than she is now but she does receive regular visits from me when I'm in the UK & from other family members when I'm not.