Winterbourne View

Wednesday 29th February 2012 Written Statements

[The Minister of State, Department of Health (Paul Burstow)]

I promised to update the House about ongoing activity in relation to Winterbourne View private hospital and other services for people with learning disabilities.

The House will wish to note that 11 people employed at Winterbourne View appeared in Bristol Crown court on 9 February. Three people have pleaded guilty and have been referred for sentencing reports. A further eight people are due back in court on 16 March.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has now completed their focussed inspections of 150 services for people with learning disabilities. The reports from these inspections are being published in batches and a further 20 reports are being published today. They can be found at: www.cqc.org.uk/LDReports?latest.

67 inspection reports have been published so far. These reports have found poor practice in some of the units and some major concerns.

Where the CQC has identified concerns, the provider is required to inform CQC when its improvement actions have been completed. CQC will follow up to check that the improvements have been made, including further inspections where necessary.

We have written to NHS and local authority chief executives to ensure that they are continuing to take action required to address any concerns raised; and review their own commissioning, care planning and oversight arrangements to support improvements.

We will continue to look for ways to drive up standards across health and care for people with learning disabilities.

The results of the CQC inspections programme will feed into the wider departmental review of Winterbourne View, together with the reports from the serious case review and the NHS serious untoward incident review, and evidence from other investigations and reports.

The departmental review is continuing to engage with people with learning disabilities or autism and challenging behaviour and their families about how services can be improved. Ministers will report findings from the departmental review to Parliament and determine what further action is necessary.

I will continue to update the House as things develop.