Panorama and Winterbourne View hospital

Posted by Mark Raw in Childcare Industry

I don’t usually watch these types of programmes as they anger me so much but I watched the Panorama expose of Winterbourne View hospital (31st May 2011), titled ‘Undercover Care: The Abuse Exposed’. What it must be like to live with the daily torture that was freely dispensed by the sadistic staff I cannot even think.

As was stated during the programme unfortunately it was the all too common place. It is the result of an unskilled senior staff member being given, and having taken, too much power, along with being extremely poorly managed by his seniors. He did not even want to have a career in care, bullying the staff to work and copy his actions, giving praise when they did and I can only assume alienating when they did not.

You have to ask;
1) How he even got through what should have been a solid and robust recruitment process. Even the most basic of systems would have flagged him up as a concern.

2) How the Manager of Winterbourne Hospital did not even pick up any of these actions, behaviours and the institutionalised behaviours of the staff shown. This, even after the criminal proceedings and dismissal of a staff member two months before the documentary was made.

3) How did CQC not pick up anything even when given the blindingly obvious information of 24 restraints in a 7 day period. That would be the ones that were recorded. Surely that would have had alarm bells ringing.

My heart goes out to the parents of those shown, how they must be feeling I cannot even start to comprehend and to those not shown who have had their own children live there and will never know what, if anything, had happened to their children whilst in the care of these monsters.

I eagerly await the news that will hopefully come soon, giving the custodial sentences handed out to these highlighted.

I hope that all Res Workers, Managers, Senior Managers and owners linked to care homes, be it children, adults and elderly all take stock and question “Are they really happy with how there home run and operated by others?”. “Do the staff at all levels deserve to hold the very responsible role they have been given?” and the harder question……… if not “what will you do about it”?

[I am pleased to see that four people have already been arrested according to BBC News]