Tuesday 31st May - Panorama.

[lifetime fan]

The beneift claimant assessment programme?

[Ezekiel 25:17]

The beneift claimant assessment programme?

 

Yeah, it was in our Leeds office, I didnt watch it as I could not give a fuck but everyone was talking about it and I keep getting emails telling me to refrain from discussing work in public etc.

[lifetime fan]

Monday could be more interesting than first thought.

 

 

Michael Ezanagu will change his plea to guilty on Monday morning before any trial.

 

I wonder how many charges will be dropped by the CPS to get the guilty plea?

[lifetime fan]

The last of 11 people accused of maltreating five patients at a private hospital has pleaded guilty.

 

Michael Onyema Ezenagu, 28, of White City, London, was due on trial at Bristol Crown Court but admitted two charges of ill-treating a patient.

 

He and the 10 other defendants were originally detained after secret filming by the BBC's Panorama at Winterbourne View, near Bristol.

 

The other defendants pleaded guilty at previous hearings.

 

Judge Neil Ford said they would all be sentenced at the same time, within three weeks.

 

'Hate crimes'

 

Ann Reddrop, head of complex cases at the Crown Prosecution Service in the South West, said: "The CPS will ask Judge Ford to take into account the fact that these are disability hate crimes when determining the sentence of the defendants.

 

"As such he is able to impose an uplift in the sentence to reflect the seriousness in this type of crime.

 

 

Crown Prosecution Service

"At Winterbourne View, people who should have been able to trust carers had that trust cruelly and repeatedly abused."

 

Det Ch Supt Louisa Rolfe, from Avon and Somerset Police, praised the victims and their families for their "support and patience" during investigations.

 

"We were shocked by the Panorama programme as many people were," she said.

 

"The voice of the victim has been central to our investigation into this case.

 

"The investigation has always been about the criminal actions of eleven individuals working at Winterbourne View."

 

She confirmed a Serious Case Review report on the case would be published on Tuesday.

 

Wilful neglect

 

"Had it not been for the actions of individuals who raised concerns about the neglect and cruelty suffered by the victims at Winterbourne View, this wholly unacceptable behaviour would have continued unchecked," Det Ch Supt Rolfe added.

 

 

Campaigners against the abuse of people with learning disabilities gathered outside the crown court Previously, Wayne Rogers, 31, of Kingswood, pleaded guilty to nine charges of ill-treating a patient.

 

Alison Dove, 24, of Kingswood, and Graham Doyle, 25, of Patchway, both pleaded guilty to seven charges of ill-treating a patient.

 

Jason Gardiner, 44, of Hartcliffe, Daniel Brake, 27, of Downend, and Holly Laura Draper, 23, of Mangotsfield, each pleaded guilty to two charges of ill-treating a patient.

 

Charlotte Justine Cotterell, 21, from Yate, and Neil Ferguson, 27, of Emerson Green, each pleaded guilty to one charge of ill-treating a patient.

 

Sooaklingum Appoo, 58, of Downend, pleaded guilty to three charges of wilfully neglecting a patient.

 

And Kelvin Fore, 33, from Middlesbrough, pleaded guilty to two charges of wilfully neglecting a patient.

 

'Appalling cruelty'

 

Dame Jo Williams, chairman of the Care Quality Commission, said: "We are committed to do all we can to protect vulnerable people - and we apologise to patients at Winterbourne View, and their families, for our failure do so quickly enough in this case.

 

"Following a thorough internal review, we have made changes to strengthen our processes and to ensure that we are better placed to prevent abuse."

 

Beverley Dawkins, policy manager for the learning disability charity Mencap, said: "These were appalling acts of cruelty and the evidence was very powerful."

 

She said it had been an "extremely emotional experience" for the victims' families to see the abuse on a television screen.

 

Steve Sollars, 49, from Bedminster, Bristol, who had a son at Winterbourne View prior to the Panorama investigation, attended the court hearing.

 

He said: "It's taken so long to get here and it's still not over yet. Maybe when they've been sentenced we can draw a line under this.

 

"I hope they give the maximum possible sentence there is as a deterrent to others so this won't happen again."

 

 

BBC News - Winterbourne View worker admits abusing patients

[lifetime fan]

Winterbourne View abuse: last staff member pleads guilty

 

Michael Ezenagu and 10 other former care home staff to be sentenced for abusing patients with learning disabilities

 

The last member of staff caught on camera by a BBC investigation abusing patients at a private care home has pleaded guilty.

 

Michael Ezenagu, 29, admitted two charges of ill-treating Simone Blake at the Winterbourne View private hospital in Hambrook, south Gloucestershire.

 

The care home was exposed by Panorama last year when an undercover reporter recorded secret footage of patients being abused by their carers. The video appeared to show vulnerable residents being pinned down, slapped, doused in water and taunted.

 

Ten other former employees of Winterbourne View – Wayne Rogers, Graham Doyle, Allison Dove, Jason Gardiner, Charlotte Cotterell, Holly Draper, Kelvin Fore, Sookalingun Appoo, Danny Brake, and Neil Ferguson – had already pleaded guilty to a total of 36 charges of ill treatment under the Mental Health Act, bringing the total number of charges to 38.

 

The staff will all be sentenced at Bristol crown court, with the Recorder of Bristol, Judge Neil Ford QC, not expected to make his decision public for another month. The number of people involved means it will take a week to sentence them all.

 

Ford told Ezenagu, who was the only defendant present in court for Monday's hearing: "Your case will be adjourned for sentence and your sentence and the sentence of your co-accused will take place together. I am told that the sentencing hearing will take as long as a week and there will be some delay in finding a date."

 

After the hearing Ann Reddrop, head of the Crown Prosecution Service's south-west complex case unit, said prosecutors would ask Ford "to take into account the fact that these are disability hate crimes when determining the sentence … As such he is able to impose an uplift in sentence to reflect the seriousness of this type of crime".

 

Detective Chief Superintendent Louisa Rolfe paid tribute to the staff who went to the BBC to expose the abuse. "Had it not been for the actions of individuals who raised concerns about the neglect and cruelty suffered by the victims at Winterbourne View, this wholly unacceptable behaviour would have continued unchecked."

 

The South Gloucestershire Safeguarding Adults Board will publish the Serious Case Review into the Winterbourne View scandal on Tuesday.

 

Since the allegations were first broadcast, the hospital's owner, Castlebeck, has closed Winterbourne View and two other residential homes following concerns raised by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the NHS regulator.

 

Numerous for-profit providers, along with charities, dominate the learning disability sector. Barely 10% of total care provision remains in state hands.

 

The CQC came under fire for not acting when initially contacted by whistleblowers about the abuse. Dame Jo Williams, chair of the CQC, admitted the organisation had fallen short of its own standards.

 

"We are committed to do all we can to protect vulnerable people – and we apologise to patients at Winterbourne View, and their families, for our failure do so quickly enough in this case," she said in a statement on Monday.

 

She said that after an internal review the CQC had "made changes to strengthen our processes and to ensure that we are better placed to prevent abuse", including setting up a specialist whistleblowing team.

 

"This prosecution sends out a clear message that care staff who abuse vulnerable people will be charged and brought before the courts. There is a responsibility on all of us to report such behaviour so that firm action can be taken to protect people and, when the evidence is there, to prosecute those responsible."

 

The CQC's unannounced inspection programme of 145 hospitals and care homes for people with a learning disability, prompted by the BBC's investigation, revealed that half of services failed to meet essential care and safeguarding standards.

 

 

Winterbourne View abuse: last staff member pleads guilty | Society | guardian.co.uk

[Champ]

The publication of the serious case review today was the second item on R4 news this morning (after Standard Chartered) with the apparent intervention of Mencap and the Challenging Behaviour Foundation. Is this new and is it likely to have any impact on the government's response?

[lifetime fan]

I sencerely doubt, the government want no centralised involvement, apparently allowing small models of best practice is enough. Not had a chance to read the SCR in full yet so imhoping to be pleasantly surprised but I highly doubt it.

 

Terry will be on BBC one o'clock news.

[Champ]

I sencerely doubt, the government want no centralised involvement, apparently allowing small models of best practice is enough. Not had a chance to read the SCR in full yet so imhoping to be pleasantly surprised but I highly doubt it.

 

Terry will be on BBC one o'clock news.

Thanks for the heads up

[Champ]

Edit. One o'clock news on at one thirty

[lifetime fan]

News will be 1.30

[lifetime fan]

So the government are going to do fuck all!

[Champ]

Pretty much as you expected then? Pretty depressing stuff from the Public Health minister there blaming individuals and structures but no suggestion of national action

 

I said 'depressing' but I think its more than that...makes you fucking angry. They're not interested

[lifetime fan]

Only too predictable unfortunately.

 

Makes you wonder what needs to happen to get meaningful change...

[Champ]

Only too predictable unfortunately.

 

Makes you wonder what needs to happen to get meaningful change...

Its hard to imagine....what could be clearer than those pictures? And you dont think for a minute that this was a unique situation..and I was about to type, so what's their reluctance but we know dont we?

[lifetime fan]

It's not just finances though, the government do not believe it their place to raise minimum standards. The industry should miraculously do it itself...

 

That and they don't want to spend money on good quality care provision for vulnerable adults of course.

[Champ]

I should have said that. It really isnt just about the money..its about that agenda and they just dont wont to hear anything that conflicts with that...I know only too well in the sphere of adult home care services and the 'farm it out to private agencies' dogma...services that are managed by someone at the end of a mobile while they're doing their shopping!

[lifetime fan]

http://hosted.southglos.gov.uk/wv/report.pdf

 

 

During 2010, “on the job” training and inadequate staffing levels persisted with poor recruitment practices and further instances of unprofessional behaviour in an increasingly non-*‐therapeutic hospital.

Patients lived in circumstances which raised the continuous possibility of harm and degradation.

Castlebeck Ltd’s managers did not deal with unprofessional practices at Winterbourne View Hospital.

Absconding patients, the concerns of their relatives, requests to be removed and escalating self-*‐injurious behaviour were not perceived as evidence of a failing service.

The documented concerns of a whistleblower made no difference in an unnoticing environment.

[lifetime fan]

http://hosted.southglos.gov.uk/wv/summary.pdf

 

 

The only relationship that South Gloucestershire Council Adult Safeguarding had with the Winterbourne View Hospital was as its local safeguarding authority.

It commissioned no places there and supported none of the patients financially. It received 40 safeguarding alerts concerning the hospital between January 2008 and May 2011. These were treated as discrete cases. South Gloucestershire Council Adult Safeguarding acknowledges that its safeguarding policy and ix procedures were inconsistently applied and that their investigation and management of referrals were sometimes poor.

It did not challenge the hospital’s failure to produce reports nor some of the decisions of police colleagues.

When Adult Safeguarding received the whistleblowing email it forwarded this to the Care Quality Commission.

It was believed that the email’s recipient, Winterbourne View Hospital’s acting manager, was

addressing the matters raised.

While there must be an expectation that services supporting vulnerable adults will honestly report all allegations of abuse and crimes, this expectation was misplaced in this case.

[Champ]

Just opened the link and in reading the introductory sections I was amazed to see that Castlebeck set up the hospital without any consultation with S Glocs

[lifetime fan]

Just opened the link and in reading the introductory sections I was amazed to see that Castlebeck set up the hospital without any consultation with S Glocs

 

 

They checked it was financially viable...

 

Then went off on their own. Nicely sums up their attitude.

[Champ]

If South Glocs didnt fund any of the places, where did the 'patients' (is that the right term?) come from?

[lifetime fan]

South Glos Council didn't 'place' people there as they were funded through PCT's. People were living at the hospital who's families were living in South Glos though.

[lifetime fan]

If South Glocs didnt fund any of the places, where did the 'patients' (is that the right term?) come from?

 

 

Patients, SU's, individuals...any could be used.

[Champ]

South Glos Council didn't 'place' people there as they were funded through PCT's. People were living at the hospital who's families were living in South Glos though.

Of course...it's late, I didnt think that through. Your frequent updates suggest that you still feel really strongly about this. What do you do with all those feelings?

[lifetime fan]

15 families are taking civil action against Castlebeck.