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I gave my statement to police Saturday morning, at the moment my name will not be released but if any of the abusers go to trial I'm likely to be all over the media unfortunately.

 

Two nurses (Kelvin and Apu) who stood back and did nothing whilst service users were being abuse have today been suspended by the nmc.

 

if your name gets released, i'd imagine a lot of free beers will be coming your way for getting the ball rolling. that panorama episode will likely be considered a classical piece of investigative journalism in the future.

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if your name gets released, i'd imagine a lot of free beers will be coming your way for getting the ball rolling. that panorama episode will likely be considered a classical piece of investigative journalism in the future.

 

It's kind of known already to be honest mate, it's just that it hasn't been confirmed by the police or beeb. Castlebeck and all the staff that were abusing people know it was me, that just can't prove it.

 

Believe it or not even with cases of abuse as bad as this whistleblowers are still frowned upon, especially for taking the route I did.

 

The researcher that I did all the work with is a legend, he's a great fella and I can not speak highly enough of him or the beeb.

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  • 3 weeks later...

BBC News - Rose Villa care home abuse inquiry: Staff suspended

 

 

Rose Villa care home abuse inquiry: Staff suspended

 

The BBC has learnt that four members of staff have been suspended at Rose Villa Continue reading the main story

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Allegations of abuse are being investigated at a home for people with learning disabilities in Bristol.

 

The BBC has learnt that four members of staff have been suspended at Rose Villa, a nine-bed rehabilitation centre in the Brislington area.

 

The home is run by Castlebeck, the company that also ran Winterbourne View where abuse against vulnerable adults was exposed by BBC Panorama.

 

Castlebeck confirmed staff had been suspended and an inquiry was under way.

 

The BBC understands that one person was suspended at Rose Villa in June following allegations made by a whistle-blower.

 

In the past week, two members of staff have been suspended after inspectors from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) raised safeguarding concerns.

 

Misconduct allegations

 

It is believed a further member of staff has been suspended after allegations that a patient was mishandled.

 

In a statement, the CQC said it had been reviewing all services provided by Castlebeck across England.

 

The statement added: "Following an inspection [of Rose Villa] on 1 July our inspectors drew the manager's attention to two separate issues.

 

 

Winterbourne View was closed following the BBC Panorama programme "We understand that two members of staff were subsequently suspended.

 

"We are satisfied that those issues are being addressed and the findings of that inspection will be published in full within the next few weeks.

 

"We are aware that two other members of staff have also been suspended for other separate reasons.

 

"In the meantime, we continue to monitor Rose Villa, and if there was any evidence that people were at risk, we would take immediate action."

 

Castlebeck confirmed that four members of staff had been suspended following allegations of misconduct.

 

In a statement it said: "In accordance with our policy we have notified and are working with all relevant authorities as inquiries are being conducted.

 

"As this process is ongoing we are not able to comment further at this time."

 

Avon and Somerset Police said: "Police are assisting multi-agency partners following allegations of abuse. Inquiries continue, however no criminal offences have been disclosed."

 

'Visit regularly'

 

In a joint statement, NHS Bristol and Bristol City Council said: "The safety and wellbeing of all the patients in the unit is our absolute priority, and we take these concerns with the utmost seriousness.

 

"Although we do not currently have any Bristol residents in the nine-bed unit, as part of our role as the lead safeguarding organisations, we have visited Rose Villa and reviewed the care and wellbeing of the residents as soon as we were made aware of the allegations concerning Winterbourne View.

 

"We have continued to visit the home regularly during the intervening period and have provided additional independent support to the home.

 

"CQC is reviewing all Castlebeck's homes as part of their overall response to the issues raised by the Panorama programme."

 

Winterbourne View was closed following the BBC Panorama programme and Castlebeck apologised

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Care home boss quits as firm at centre of abuse exposé prepares for criticism.

 

Paul Brosnan, son of one of Ireland's richest men, makes way for veteran healthcare consultant at helm of Castlebeck

 

The chairman of Castlebeck, the company behind Winterbourne View, the care home at the centre of the recent BBC Panorama abuse exposé, has resigned as the group braces itself for what it expects to be a highly critical report into care standards conducted by the Care Quality Commission and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

 

Paul Brosnan, the 35-year-old son of Denis Brosnan, one of Ireland's richest men, will make way for Dick Stockford, a veteran healthcare consultant and troubleshooter who has worked with senior figures across the NHS including chief executive David Nicholson and Lord Darzi.

 

Castlebeck is owned by Denis Brosnan's Jersey-based Lydian Capital, which is backed by fellow Irish tycoons JP McManus, John Magnier and Dermot Desmond.

 

Paul Brosnan, who has served as chairman of Castlebeck for almost three years, called in PwC to conduct a review of systems and controls at care homes after being presented with Panorama's findings. The CQC also began its investigation in response the abuse secretly filmed by the BBC and broadcast in May.

 

Winterbourne View has closed since the programme and the firm, which operates 56 sites, has apologised. But last week four workers at Rose Villa, a rehabilitation centre in Bristol also run by Castlebeck, were suspended amid fresh allegations of misconduct.

 

Denis Brosnan owns Croom House stud in Limerick, where Paul grew up, and is chairman of Horse Racing Ireland. He made his fortune as the former boss of Irish food supplier Kerry Group and went on to lead Lydian Capital, whose backers are sometimes known as the Coolmore mafia because of their close business ties and their shared passion for horseracing. The Coolmore stud in Tipperary is owned by the Magnier family. Lydian investments included Global Radio, the firm behind Classic FM, Heart and LBC, and preschool nursery operator Casterbridge Care.

 

Stepping down from Castlebeck leaves Paul Brosnan, a former banker with Allied Irish Bank, with more time to concentrate on Casterbridge, a business he is credited with building up into 26 sites looking after almost 2,500 children. Castlebeck said: "Paul Brosnan has told the board that he believes the company needs a chairman with relevant health and social care experience at this time."

 

Casterbridge attracted controversy after the 2007 death of two-year-old Rhiya Malin at its Eton Manor nursery in Chigwell, Essex. Last year it emerged Casterbridge had re-registered the nursery under a different company name.

 

Lawyers for Rhiya's parents have claimed this effectively removed her death from records on Ofsted's website. The regulator has since said it would change the rules on how it treats such re-registering. Casterbridge said it was an unintended result of a corporate consolidation. The super-rich tycoons behind Lydian are also big investors in several other care providers in the UK. Another Jersey investment vehicle called Grove Limited — again led by Denis Brosnan — also counts Desmond, McManus and Magnier among its investors. This business controls the Barchester Healthcare empire of more than 200 homes. Grove is also a major shareholder in Cygnet, one of the largest private provider of psychiatric care services to the NHS.

 

 

Care home boss quits as firm at centre of Panorama abuse exposé prepares for critical report | Society | The Observer

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Nurse 'received sack threat' after reporting allegations of abuse at care home.

 

A nurse who reported allegations of abuse at a care home investigated by the BBC claims she was victimised for speaking out.

 

Caroline Kadungure, 36, wrote to managers at Winterbourne View in Bristol warning them of the ill-treatment of vulnerable patients a year before a documentary was broadcast on Panorama.

 

She claims patients, who suffered from a range of disorders including dementia and schizophrenia, were shouted at and taunted by staff. She also alleges patients who refused to co-operate were pushed to the floor.

 

But instead of addressing her concerns the nurse was disciplined for failing to join in the physical restraint of vulnerable patients, she claims.

 

Winterbourne View, which had 24 patients, was closed down last month after the BBC documentary, broadcast in May, exposed the scale of the abuse taking place at the 24-bed care home.

 

Health care experts said last night that if Castlebeck, the owners of the care home, had acted on Miss Kadungure’s complaints they could have spared the patients months of abuse.

 

Miss Kadungure said that in one case in June last year an elderly female patient was so badly injured while being restrained in her room that she needed stitches to the back of her head.

 

Miss Kadungure said: ‘I heard screaming, shouting and banging from a room upstairs where two care workers were looking after a patient who suffered from dementia. I remember thinking I should ring for the charge nurse and separate the care workers as they seemed to be making it worse.’

 

But Miss Kadungure says her intervention did not stop the mistreatment and she was threatened with the sack. Rather than face dismissal, she left the care home in November.

 

Cathy James, chief executive of Public Concern at Work, said: ‘If Castlebeck had listened to Caroline vulnerable patients may not have suffered.’

 

Last month patients at Winterbourne View were transferred after the Panorama undercover investigation showed residents being pinned down, slapped and taunted. A number of people have been questioned by police and released on bail.

 

Last week staff at a second Castlebeck care home for adults with learning disabilities were suspended. Allegations of abuse at Rose Villa, also in Bristol, are being investigated by the Care Quality Commission.

 

A spokeswoman for Castlebeck said the company, which employs 2,100 people, providing care for 580 service users at 56 locations, would not comment on the new allegations while investigations were still taking place.

 

 

BBC Panorama: Nurse 'received sack threat' after care home abuse allegations | Mail Online

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Fair Play to yer LF, watched the program with the missus a few weeks ago, just head bendingly wrong from top to bottom that such a fucking massive bunch of ringpieces can be left to care for people in need. They looked like dolites, who saw the job as more of a get together with like minds than any kind of carework, the kind of behaviour you might expect from dickhead teenagers hanging around a park getting pissed and bullying the weaker kids. Fucking horrible to watch, but important that you and your colleague have managed to draw attebntion to it, hopefully careworkers in similar situations will draw courage from it and do the same as yerself.

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Fair Play to yer LF, watched the program with the missus a few weeks ago, just head bendingly wrong from top to bottom that such a fucking massive bunch of ringpieces can be left to care for people in need. They looked like dolites, who saw the job as more of a get together with like minds than any kind of carework, the kind of behaviour you might expect from dickhead teenagers hanging around a park getting pissed and bullying the weaker kids. Fucking horrible to watch, but important that you and your colleague have managed to draw attebntion to it, hopefully careworkers in similar situations will draw courage from it and do the same as yerself.

 

I have such massive respect for the beeb following this but one angle they were not able to portray in the programme was this was not a one off 'bad apple' of a service.

 

Staff and management openly spoke of this being the 'Castlebeck way' of treating vulnerable adults. The whole organisation needs to go.

 

There is a CQC report which is to be released immenantly (possibly later this morning) hence this 'released information' tonight. Everything this organisation has done throughout the process has been to save £'s.

 

Those staff arrested after the programme was originally shown have been bailed to the 1st of August. The CPS will then announce who will be charged and with what offences. At this point the abusers will have to attend court to plead, if some plead not guilty and are named in my statement my name and details will be released to the press, of that I am sure.

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I have such massive respect for the beeb following this but one angle they were not able to portray in the programme was this was not a one off 'bad apple' of a service.

 

Staff and management openly spoke of this being the 'Castlebeck way' of treating vulnerable adults. The whole organisation needs to go.

 

There is a CQC report which is to be released immenantly (possibly later this morning) hence this 'released information' tonight. Everything this organisation has done throughout the process has been to save £'s.

 

Those staff arrested after the programme was originally shown have been bailed to the 1st of August. The CPS will then announce who will be charged and with what offences. At this point the abusers will have to attend court to plead, if some plead not guilty and are named in my statement my name and details will be released to the press, of that I am sure.

 

That's what we want though: a more efficient health service.

 

Efficiency is good, so is reform, I read it somewhere.

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Here is the report from the Care Quality Comission.

 

 

CQC report on Winterbourne View confirms its owners failed to protect people from abuse

18 July 2011

 

The Care Quality Commission has published details of the enforcement action it has taken against Castlebeck Care (Teesdale) Ltd which failed to protect the safety and welfare of patients at Winterbourne View. The effect of this action is that the assessment and treatment centre near Bristol has been closed.

 

Today CQC publishes the findings following an inspection of services provided at Winterbourne View. After considering a range of evidence inspectors conclude that the registered provider, Castlebeck Care (Teesdale) Ltd, had failed to ensure that people living at Winterbourne View were adequately protected from risk, including the risks of unsafe practices by its own staff.

 

The report concludes that there was a systemic failure to protect people or to investigate allegations of abuse. The provider had failed in its legal duty to notify the Care Quality Commission of serious incidents including injuries to patients or occasions when they had gone missing.

 

Inspectors said that staff did not appear to understand the needs of the people in their care, adults with learning disabilities, complex needs and challenging behaviour. People who had no background in care services had been recruited, references were not always checked and staff were not trained or supervised properly. Some staff were too ready to use methods of restraint without considering alternatives.

 

The review began immediately after CQC was informed that the BBC television programme Panorama had gathered evidence over several months including secret filming to show serious abuse of patients at the centre.

 

Inspectors who visited Winterbourne View considered taking urgent action to close the centre, but decided that it was in the best interests of the patients to allow NHS and local authority commissioners further time to find alternative placements.

 

CQC ensured that there would be an immediate stop on admissions and that extra staff would be brought in to protect patients until they could be moved.

 

When they were satisfied that those arrangements were in place, CQC took enforcement action to remove the registration of Winterbourne View, the legal process to close a location. The hospital closed in June.

 

The report which is published today finds that Castlebeck Care Ltd (Teesdale) was not compliant with 10 of the essential standards which the law requires providers must meet. CQC’s findings can be found below.

 

•The managers did not ensure that major incidents were reported to the Care Quality Commission as required.

•Planning and delivery of care did not meet people's individual needs.

•They did not have robust systems to assess and monitor the quality of services.

•They did not identify, and manage, risks relating to the health, welfare and safety of patients.

•They had not responded to or considered complaints and views of people about the service.

•Investigations into the conduct of staff were not robust and had not safeguarded people.

•They did not take reasonable steps to identify the possibility of abuse and prevent it before it occurred.

•They did not respond appropriately to allegations of abuse.

•They did not have arrangements in place to protect the people against unlawful or excessive use of restraint.

•They did not operate effective recruitment procedures or take appropriate steps in relation to persons who were not fit to work in care settings.

•They failed in their responsibilities to provide appropriate training and supervision to staff.

Amanda Sherlock, CQC’s Director of Operations said: “This report is a damning indictment of the regime at Winterbourne View and its systemic failings to protect the vulnerable people in its care.

 

“It is now clear that the problems at Winterbourne View were far worse than were initially indicated by the whistleblower. He has stated that he was not aware of the level of abuse until he saw the footage from the secret filming.

 

“We now know that the provider had effectively misled us by not keeping us informed about incidents as required by the law. Had we been told about all these things, we could have taken action earlier. We will now consider whether it would be appropriate to take further legal action.

 

“CQC has already acknowledged that we would have acted earlier if the evidence from the television report had been made available to us.

 

“However it is incorrect that CQC had failed to act on warnings by the whistleblower. Our internal investigation has confirmed that while we were aware of those concerns, our inspector believed they were being dealt with through the local safeguarding process involving a number of agencies. We should have contacted the whistleblower directly – and this will be one of the issues which will be addressed by the independently-led serious case review.

 

“Immediately we were aware of the extent of the problem, we took the action which is detailed in this report. Although Winterbourne View is now closed, we will continue to monitor Castlebeck's other services closely.

 

“The most important outcome of all this is that the people who had been living at Winterbourne View are no longer subject to this culture of abuse.

 

”Our plans for a programme of random, unannounced inspections of hospitals providing care for people with learning disabilities are well underway and we will report back in due course."

 

Over the last four months CQC has reviewed and inspected all the services provided by Castlebeck Care (Teesdale) Ltd at its 24 locations. We will publish the results of this review, including reports on all locations, at the end of July. Where we have identified concerns, measures are in place to address the problems and to ensure the safety of people using services.

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Here is the report from the Care Quality Comission.

 

 

CQC report on Winterbourne View confirms its owners failed to protect people from abuse

18 July 2011

 

The Care Quality Commission has published details of the enforcement action it has taken against Castlebeck Care (Teesdale) Ltd which failed to protect the safety and welfare of patients at Winterbourne View. The effect of this action is that the assessment and treatment centre near Bristol has been closed.

 

Today CQC publishes the findings following an inspection of services provided at Winterbourne View. After considering a range of evidence inspectors conclude that the registered provider, Castlebeck Care (Teesdale) Ltd, had failed to ensure that people living at Winterbourne View were adequately protected from risk, including the risks of unsafe practices by its own staff.

 

The report concludes that there was a systemic failure to protect people or to investigate allegations of abuse. The provider had failed in its legal duty to notify the Care Quality Commission of serious incidents including injuries to patients or occasions when they had gone missing.

 

Inspectors said that staff did not appear to understand the needs of the people in their care, adults with learning disabilities, complex needs and challenging behaviour. People who had no background in care services had been recruited, references were not always checked and staff were not trained or supervised properly. Some staff were too ready to use methods of restraint without considering alternatives.

 

The review began immediately after CQC was informed that the BBC television programme Panorama had gathered evidence over several months including secret filming to show serious abuse of patients at the centre.

 

Inspectors who visited Winterbourne View considered taking urgent action to close the centre, but decided that it was in the best interests of the patients to allow NHS and local authority commissioners further time to find alternative placements.

 

CQC ensured that there would be an immediate stop on admissions and that extra staff would be brought in to protect patients until they could be moved.

 

When they were satisfied that those arrangements were in place, CQC took enforcement action to remove the registration of Winterbourne View, the legal process to close a location. The hospital closed in June.

 

The report which is published today finds that Castlebeck Care Ltd (Teesdale) was not compliant with 10 of the essential standards which the law requires providers must meet. CQC’s findings can be found below.

 

•The managers did not ensure that major incidents were reported to the Care Quality Commission as required.

•Planning and delivery of care did not meet people's individual needs.

•They did not have robust systems to assess and monitor the quality of services.

•They did not identify, and manage, risks relating to the health, welfare and safety of patients.

•They had not responded to or considered complaints and views of people about the service.

•Investigations into the conduct of staff were not robust and had not safeguarded people.

•They did not take reasonable steps to identify the possibility of abuse and prevent it before it occurred.

•They did not respond appropriately to allegations of abuse.

•They did not have arrangements in place to protect the people against unlawful or excessive use of restraint.

•They did not operate effective recruitment procedures or take appropriate steps in relation to persons who were not fit to work in care settings.

•They failed in their responsibilities to provide appropriate training and supervision to staff.

Amanda Sherlock, CQC’s Director of Operations said: “This report is a damning indictment of the regime at Winterbourne View and its systemic failings to protect the vulnerable people in its care.

 

It is now clear that the problems at Winterbourne View were far worse than were initially indicated by the whistleblower. He has stated that he was not aware of the level of abuse until he saw the footage from the secret filming.

 

The whistleblower shown on film was not fully aware of the level of abuse being handed out. The original whistleblower who complained to the CQC and was ignored went to the BBC as the CQC would not act on his concerns.

 

“We now know that the provider had effectively misled us by not keeping us informed about incidents as required by the law. Had we been told about all these things, we could have taken action earlier.Of course you could, episodes of abuse were reported to you on at least 6 seperate occasions. We will now consider whether it would be appropriate to take further legal action.

 

CQC has already acknowledged that we would have acted earlier if the evidence from the television report had been made available to us.Bollocks.

 

However it is incorrect that CQC had failed to act on warnings by the whistleblower.Can these cunts really try and say that with a straight face? Our internal investigation has confirmed that while we were aware of those concerns,so you did know about this our inspector believed they were being dealt with through the local safeguarding process involving a number of agencies.We knew abuse was being carried out at the hospital, we had received numerous warnings of this but never bothered to check anyone was doing anything about it. We should have contacted the whistleblower directly – and this will be one of the issues which will be addressed by the independently-led serious case review.

 

Immediately we were aware of the extent of the problem, we took the action which is detailed in this report.More fucking lies. Although Winterbourne View is now closed, we will continue to monitor Castlebeck's other services closely.

 

The most important outcome of all this is that the people who had been living at Winterbourne View are no longer subject to this culture of abuse. That is the bare minimum outcome, not the most important. A regulator is there for a reason. To regulate.

 

”Our plans for a programme of random, unannounced inspections of hospitals providing care for people with learning disabilities are well underway and we will report back in due course."

 

Over the last four months CQC has reviewed and inspected all the services provided by Castlebeck Care (Teesdale) Ltd at its 24 locations. We will publish the results of this review, including reports on all locations, at the end of July. Where we have identified concerns, measures are in place to address the problems and to ensure the safety of people using services.

 

Expect a response to this bullshit on the BBC news at one and six o'clock today. Extended coverage on BBC Points West.

 

 

 

I really can not express how fucking angry I am.

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It's infuriating how organisations can wangle out of this shit. We see it all the time, they try to absolve themselves of any responsibility - often it can be done by just ticking a 'review' box.

 

As monty said, all about efficincty these days.

 

Vulnerable people? Well they should be thankful they've got a roof over their head, no?

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It's infuriating how organisations can wangle out of this shit. We see it all the time, they try to absolve themselves of any responsibility - often it can be done by just ticking a 'review' box.

 

As monty said, all about efficincty these days.

 

Vulnerable people? Well they should be thankful they've got a roof over their head, no?

 

I'll only respond to your first sentance as I know the second two aren't genuine but I could go ape shit on them.

 

They may try to hide these links, it will not happen tho!

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  • 2 weeks later...

There are "serious concerns" about four services for people with learning difficulties run by Castlebeck, regulators have said.

 

The Care Quality Commission said there were problems at Arden Vale, near Coventry, Rose Villa in Bristol, Croxton Lodge, in Leicestershire, and Cedar Vale, in Nottingham.

 

Castlebeck ran Winterbourne View care home, which was at the centre of BBC Panorama allegations of abuse.

 

The company has yet to comment.

 

A further seven hospitals or care homes run by Castlebeck do not fully comply with essential standards of quality and safety, said the report.

 

 

BBC News - 'Serious concerns' raised over Castlebeck care

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CQC calls on Castlebeck to make root and branch improvements

28 July 2011

 

The Care Quality Commission has told the Castlebeck Care Group that it has serious concerns about four of the services run by the group, and that a further seven do not fully comply with essential standards of quality and safety.

 

Where we have immediate concerns about people’s safety, we have taken action and are working closely with both the provider itself and commissioners to ensure the safety and welfare of people using these services as a first priority.

 

In the four cases where we have serious concerns we are taking enforcement action, but for legal reasons we cannot go into details at this time. We will report fully on these actions later.

 

We have reviewed and inspected all the services provided by Castlebeck at its 24 locations in England. One of these, Winterbourne View, has already been closed following our regulatory action.

 

These inspections have revealed a number of concerns across Castlebeck’s services for people with learning disabilities. We have discussed these with Castlebeck and we are taking a range of actions to address these problems.

 

Of the 23 Castlebeck services which were reviewed:

 

Inspectors found serious concerns at four services; CQC is taking further action.

A further seven services were failing to comply with one or more essential standards; CQC inspectors have told Castlebeck to show how it will make improvements to meet these standards.

12 services were compliant with the essential standards which were reviewed.

As well as finding a range of failings in individual services, CQC has looked across those services to identify company-wide themes. These include:

 

Lack of training for staff.

Inadequate staffing levels.

Poor care planning.

Failure to notify relevant authorities of safeguarding incidents.

Failure to involve people in decisions about their own care.

Our inspectors visited two homes as part of our routine programme of inspections early in 2011. The full review of all Castlebeck services began after we were informed that the BBC television programme Panorama had gathered evidence over several months to show serious abuse of patients at Winterbourne View.

 

The inspections focused on safeguarding the care and welfare of the people who use the services provided. Where inspectors identified concerns, measures were put in place to address the problems and to ensure the safety of people using services. Where we had any immediate concerns for people’s safety we took action to safeguard those people.

 

A CQC team made unannounced sites visit to all locations. Our staff were supported by people with specialist expertise where specific issues were identified, for example in relation to the management of medicines and, in the cases of detained patients, Mental Health Act Commissioners.

 

Examples of the poor practice our inspectors saw included:

 

locking bedroom and other doors within the independent hospitals without explanation.

patients staying in rehabilitation services for long periods.

in some services staffing levels dictated the activities that could be offered, so that for some only group activities could take place rather than activities based on an individual’s assessed needs.

We set up a national panel to consider the outcomes of each of the reviews and to identify any common elements which would require further examination of the provider’s overall performance. Issues that emerged included inadequate quality assurance systems and lack of clarity about how local systems feed into the corporate and governance systems. There was no evidence that any evaluation took place corporately of any changes that had been implemented.

 

Our Chief Executive Cynthia Bower said: “We need to be clear: we have not found problems on the same scale as were found at Winterbourne View.

 

“However – we do have serious concerns at four locations in particular. In these cases we are taking action, although for legal reasons we cannot go into detail at this time. We will report fully later.

 

Our inspections have found a range of problems, many of which are found in a number of different services. This clearly suggests that there are problems that Castlebeck needs to address at a corporate level – the company needs to make root and branch improvements to its services and processes.

 

“Where necessary, we have demanded improvements. Where we have had immediate concerns about people’s safety we have taken action. In the case of Winterbourne View we took action which led to its closure.

 

“Although our reports set out what Castlebeck and individual services need to do, there is a lesson here for all professionals who have contact with these services and those who commission care from them. You have a clear responsibility to stay alert for the signs of problems; take action if you can, and tell us if you have doubts about the safety and quality of care.

 

“I would like to put on record thanks to the BBC’s Panorama programme and Terry Bryan, whose concerns about Winterbourne View led to the documentary. Their exposure of abuse at Winterbourne View has led to this close examination of services for people with learning disabilities.

 

“We are following up our inspections of Castlebeck’s services with a major review of learning disability services. We will carry out unannounced inspections of 150 of these services.”

 

This review of Castlebeck services represents our first systematic review of services for people with learning disabilities. These services have only been registered with us since October 2010; before that time, under previous legislation independent hospitals may only have been subject to an inspection every five years. Under our latest proposals, every service will be inspected at least once a year.

 

We have a number of enforcement powers which range from issuing a statutory warning notice, to issuing a financial penalty notice in lieu of prosecution and, in the most serious cases, to prosecute or suspend registration. Where required, our compliance reports set out compliance actions and/or improvement actions for providers.

 

- ends -

 

For further information please contact the CQC press office on 0207 448 9401 or out of hours on 07917 232 143.

 

Notes to editors

You can find an overview report and the reports for each of the services run by Castlebeck at the link below.

 

/newsandevents/castlebeck.cfm

 

The Castlebeck Group comprises Castlebeck Care (Teesdale) Ltd, Mental Health Care UK Ltd (MHC) and Young Foundations & Fostering. The group has 11 independent mental health hospitals and 12 adult social care facilities registered with the Care Quality Commission.

 

The company is a subsidiary of Castle Holdings Limited.

 

The list of services with most serious concerns are:

 

Arden Vale (Meriden, Solihull)

Cedar Vale (Nottingham)

Croxton Lodge (Melton Mowbray)

Rose Villa (Bristol)

The other services which are non compliant are:

 

 

 

Acrefield House (Wirral)

Briar Court Nursing Home (Hartlepool)

Chesterholme (Hexham)

The East Midlands Centre for Neurobehavioural Rehabilitation (Melton Mowbray)

Hollyhurst (Darlington)

Oaklands (Hexham)

Willow House (Edgbaston)

 

 

CQC's response to the abuse at Winterbourne View hospital includes:

 

A review of all Castlebeck services.

A review of learning disability services involving the inspection of 150 services for people with learning disabilities which have the same or similar characteristics as Winterbourne View.

An internal management review. The first stage of CQC’s internal management review of our actions in relation to Winterbourne View is complete. The final report will make recommendations relating to how CQC ensures that safeguarding alerts and whistle blowing information are handled.

A serious case review: CQC's internal report will feed into a serious case review being led by an independent chair, Margaret Flynn, which will examine the role of all the responsible agencies.

About the Care Quality Commission

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of all health and adult social care in England. Our aim is to make sure that better care is provided for everyone, whether it is in hospital, in care homes, in people’s own homes, or anywhere else that care is provided. We also seek to protect the interests of people whose rights are restricted under the Mental Health Act. We promote the rights and interests of people who use services and we have a wide range of enforcement powers to take action on their behalf if services are unacceptably poor.

 

Under a new regulatory system introduced by government, the NHS, independent healthcare and adult social care must meet a single set of essential standards of quality and safety for the first time. We register health and adult social care services if they meet essential standards, we monitor them to make sure that they continue to do so and we respond quickly if there are concerns that standards are not being maintained. We do this by closely monitoring a wide range of information about the quality and safety of services, including the views of people who use services, and through assessment and inspection The feedback from people who use services is a vital part of our dynamic system of regulation which places the views, experiences, health and wellbeing of people who use services at its centre.

 

 

CQC calls on Castlebeck to make root and branch improvements

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Workers at a hospital near Bristol where alleged abuse was filmed had raised earlier concerns about staff behaviour, the BBC has learned.

 

South Gloucestershire Council said, in response to a Freedom of Information request, 19 concerns about Winterbourne View were raised in five years.

 

BBC Panorama secretly filmed patients being pinned down, slapped and taunted at the hospital, which has been closed.

 

The council said each of the 19 alerts would be independently reviewed.

 

A spokesman said 17 referrals had been made by managers and two by charge nurses, between the time the hospital opened in 2006 and 12 May 2011, when the authority learned of the Panorama programme.

 

He said 15 of the alerts concerned the behaviour of members of staff.

 

Andrew Hanham, a solicitor representing seven families who had relatives at Winterbourne View, said the amount of referrals was a "big number".

 

"We do know that there was some real trouble brewing underneath," he said.

 

One of the nurses to raise a concern was whistleblower Terry Bryan, who alerted the BBC with his concerns about some staff, which led to Panorama's investigation.

 

After the programme was broadcast on 31 May, Castlebeck, the firm which ran the hospital, apologised and launched an internal investigation.

 

Earlier this month, the Care Quality Commission published its findings after an inspection of Winterbourne View.

 

'Systematic failure'

 

The report found Castlebeck Care had failed to ensure residents living at the unit were adequately protected from risk, including the risks of unsafe practices by its own staff.

 

It said: "There was a systemic failure to protect people or to investigate allegations of abuse.

 

"The provider had failed in its legal duty to notify the Care Quality Commission of serious incidents including injuries to patients or occasions when they had gone missing."

 

Inspectors also noted staff did not appear to understand the needs of the people in their care and said "some staff were too ready to use methods of restraint without considering alternatives".

 

Twelve people have been arrested and released on bail in connection with the alleged abuse, pending further inquiries.

 

Winterbourne View's 24 patients were transferred from the hospital when it was closed, in June.

 

 

BBC News - Winterbourne View workers raised staff behaviour fears

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  • 2 weeks later...

POLICE have extended the bail of 11 people arrested following allegations of abuse at a home for people with learning disabilities.

 

The investigation into treatment of patients at the Winterbourne View residential hospital on the outskirts of Bradley Stoke was launched after footage filmed by an undercover investigator was broadcast on BBC TV documentary programme Panorama.

 

A total of eight people, eight men and three women, have had their bail extended, detectives confirmed yesterday. Another man also remains on police bail, pending further enquiries.

 

Winterbourne View was shut shortly after the allegations were broadcast in May.

 

The home's private operators, Castlebeck, were severely criticised in a report by watchdog the Care Quality Commission, which was published last week.

 

The CQC said it had serious concerns about three other Castlebeck services and another seven did not fully comply with essential standards of quality and safety. They included the company's Rose Villa home in Brislington, where four members of staff were suspended amid claims of misconduct.

 

This is Bristol | Bail extended for 11 in home abuse probe

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