Labour has called on the Government to commit to a two-year deadline to end the practice of placing vulnerable people with learning disabilities in Assessment and Treatment Units – like the former Winterbourne View – for long periods of time. Instead, people should be given appropriate care and support at home or in the community, so that they can be closer to their friends and families and safe from the risk of abuse and neglect.

Liz Kendall MP, Labour’s Shadow Minister for Care and Older People, said:

“The whole country was shocked by the serious abuse and appalling standards of care at Winterbourne View. Ministers promised to move people with learning disabilities out of Assessment and Treatment Units and into the community. Labour warned at the time that without a detailed plan and clear deadlines, progress on achieving this would slip. Sure enough, three years on, there has been hardly any change.

“It’s a scandal that only a third of the people who were in ATUs last April have since been transferred out and that even today, more people are being sent into them than are being discharged. Over 2,615 people – including 148 children – are still being kept away from their families and friends.

“Labour is calling on the Government to commit to giving people with learning disabilities the support they need in the community or at home by July 2016. We need clear, personal and public commitments from Ministers. It’s time that they made good on their promises.”

Editor’s Notes:

• In May 2011, the BBC’s Panorama programme highlighted serious abuse and appalling standards of care at Winterbourne View, a private hospital for people with learning disabilities. Eleven care workers were subsequently sentenced and six jailed for offences such as slapping patients, pulling their hair, and pouring mouthwash into their eyes.

• In December 2012, Norman Lamb, the Minister for Care, committed to changing the way services are commissioned to reduce the number of inpatient Assessment and Treatment Units (ATUs) like Winterbourne View. Instead, people with learning disabilities would be given support in their homes or in local community settings. Everyone at an ATU was due to have their case reviewed by June 2013, and all of those found to be in an ATU inappropriately moved to community-based support by 1 June 2014.

• However, the latest NHS quarterly data published in May 2014 reveals that little progress has been made on delivering these promises:

 2,615 people with learning disabilities, including as many as 148 children, are still being kept at ATUs away from their families and friends
 In the last quarter for which data is available, 215 people have been discharged from ATUs, but 297 new people were admitted
 90% of current inpatients do not have a discharge date http://www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/qual-clin-lead/wint-view-impr-prog/

• The latest Learning Disabilities Census Report (published April 2014) also shows that more than half of the patients at ATUs are still being given anti-psychotic medication, suffer restraint or are kept in seclusion on a regular basis. http://www.hscic.gov.uk/catalogue/PUB14046

• An answer to a written Parliamentary Question tabled by Liz Kendall MP showed that only 35% of those who were at ATUs in April 2013 have since been transferred to another setting. http://www.parliament.uk/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/commons/2014-06-24/202279

• The PQ also reveals that Norman Lamb, the Care Minister, hasn’t had a single meeting with his colleagues at the Department for Communities and Local Government about this issue, even though local councils have a critical role to play in ensuring proper support is available to people with learning disabilities in the community and at home.

• The families of the victims of Winterbourne View and the Chief Executive of Mencap, Jan Tregelles, sent an open letter to David Cameron on 2 June 2014 calling for him to take personal responsibility for the broken promises on Winterbourne View, and address the Government’s failure to meet the deadline to relocate residents of ATUs into the community. Their letter has not been answered or acknowledged. http://www.mencap.org.uk/blog/open-letter-david-cameron-take-responsibility-and-address-failure

What Labour is saying:

• Liz Kendall MP, Shadow Minister for Care and Older People, is calling on the Government to commit to a two-year deadline to end the practice of placing vulnerable people with learning disabilities at Assessment and Treatment Units for long periods of time. People should be given appropriate long-term care and support at home or in the community, so that they can be closer to their friends and families and safe from the risk of abuse and neglect. Ms Kendall raised this issue with Ministers at Health Questions in the House of Commons on Tuesday 15 July.

• This commitment must be a clear priority, with personal and public commitments from the Chief Executive of NHS England, the Health Secretary, the Communities and Local Government Secretary – and the Prime Minister. There must be a detailed action plan and a clear timetable, with all patients who could be living in the community moved out of ATUs by June 2016.

• Keeping people with learning disabilities in closed hospital settings away from their families is not only bad for them, but provides poor value for taxpayers’ money, too. It costs on average £4,500 per week for someone to be in an ATU, and it cost as much as £10,000 for some of the Winterbourne View patients. Evidence suggests that giving people the right support within their local community will often cost significantly less.