Winterbourne view free essay sample

Winterbourne view was private, residential hospital with 24 beds, for people with autism and learning disabilities. Some of whom display challenging behaviours. 73% had been admitted to the hospital under Mental Health Act powers. The hospital was essentially government funded with the average charge being ? 3500 per week per client. Forty-eight patients had been referred to Winterbourne View by 14 different English NHS commissioners, meaning that there was no one commissioner with a lead or strong relationship with the hospital. In addition to this out of 49 patients, over half were not from the local area, some as far as 140 miles away. The average length of stay at Winterbourne View was around 19 months but some patients had been there more than three years. There is little evidence of urgency in considering discharge and move-on plans for Winterbourne View patients. Culture: One of the most striking issues is the very high number of recorded physical interventions at Winterbourne View. We will write a custom essay sample on Winterbourne view or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The Serious Case Review notes that Castlebeck Care Ltd recorded a total of 558 physical interventions between 2010 and the first quarter of 2011, an average of over 1. 2 physical interventions per day. Winterbourne View patients attended NHS Accident and Emergency services on 78 occasions. Between January 2008 and May 2011 police were involved in 29 incidents concerning Winterbourne View patients. Between January 2008 and May 2011, 40 safeguarding alerts were made to South Gloucestershire Council but these were treated as separate incidents. 27 were allegations of staff to patient assaults. The Serious Case Review provides evidence of poor quality healthcare, with routine healthcare needs not being attended to – for instance there were widespread dental problems and most patients were plagued by constipation. Many patients were being given anti-psychotic and anti-depressant drugs without a consistent prescribing policy. Families and other visitors were not allowed access to the wards or individual patients’ bedrooms. This meant there was very little opportunity for outsiders to observe daily living in the hospital and enabled a closed and punitive culture to develop on the top floor of the hospital. Patients had limited access to advocacy and complaints were not dealt with. Staff failings For much of the period in which Winterbourne View operated, there was no Registered Manager. Approaches to staff recruitment and training did not demonstrate a strong focus on quality. There is little evidence of staff training in anything other than in restraint practices. Although structurally a learning disability nurse-led organisation, it is clear that Winterbourne View had, by the time of filming by Panorama, become dominated to all intents and purposes by support workers rather than nurses. There was very high staff turnover and sickness absence among the staff employed at the hospital. Despite the high cost of places at Winterbourne View commissioners do not seem to have focused much on quality, or on monitoring how the hospital was providing services in line with its registered purpose – ie. Assessing the needs of individuals and promoting their rehabilitation back home. The lack of any substantial evidence that people had meaningful activity to do in the day, the way in which access by outsiders to wards was restricted, reports of safeguarding alerts should have been followed up rigorously, but were not. BBC’s Panorama programme finally called an end to the abuse at Winterbourne View, with an expose on the care home after a reporter gained access posing as a support worker. The programme set up undercover filming after it was approached by former nurse Terry Bryan, who had followed the whistle blowing procedure whilst working at the hospital, but was ignored by management. Eleven care workers were sentenced after admitting 38 charges of neglect and abuse. Six were jailed for between two years and six months, while the others received suspended sentences.