Winterbourne View

Baroness Jolly Excerpts

Tuesday 30th October 2012 Lords Chamber

[Earl Howe]

My Lords, I am absolutely in agreement with the noble Lord, Lord Laming, that it is really important that people are held to account for making change happen. We have indicated what we think that change should be, and that is why we have developed a concordat with key partners to get them to commit to the actions they will take. We also plan to strengthen the learning disability programme board, in particular to make sure that key delivery partners—such as the NHS Commissioning Board, the CQC, ADAS and the Local Government Association—are core members. The board will review progress on implementing the action set out in the final departmental report and the concordat. We have tried to address the issue that the noble Lord homed-in on—which is speed of action—but the core of his point was that there are too many people currently in specialist in-patient learning disability services, including assessment and treatment units, and that they are staying there for too long. This is often due to crises which are preventable or which can be managed if people are given the right support in their own homes and in community settings. That is the agenda that faces us.

[Baroness Jolly]

My Lords, what action can be taken against partners that fail to comply with the concordat?

[Earl Howe]

My Lords, I think that part of this involves defining roles and responsibilities. There is no single answer to my noble friend’s question. However, the transparency of the delivery of care, measuring outcomes and measuring the quality of commissioning in local areas are all important. It is also important to ensure that systems are in place to expose poor practice when it occurs. The problem with Winterbourne View is that, for too long, people did not know that those dreadful things were happening. Therefore, levers such as the introduction of local Healthwatch, the promotion of the new elements of the NHS constitution and ensuring that the CQC focuses its attention on where risk may most strongly lie, all have to be considered in the mix. I can tell my noble friend that this very subject will be covered in the report that my department will be publishing by the end of next month.