Gestapo? Bristol? You must be joking!
By Mike Cunningham On May 31st, 2011I have just watched the most harrowing hours broadcast in a very long time. Panorama showed the scenes normally not either seen or even contemplated behind the locked doors of a ‘Specialist Residential Hospital’ which supposedly houses and supports people with ‘Challenging Disabilities’.
Whatever you can even imagine when it comes to disgraceful and downright criminal behaviour of so-called ‘Support Staff’ as well as ‘Nursing Staff’ who harassed, bullied and literally tortured defenceless and extremely vulnerable people, you would not be able to contemplate what was actually filmed behind those very, very expensive doors and windows of Winterbourne View in Bristol.
The two vicious ringleaders, if charged, will probably receive ‘Community Service’ if brought to trial.
I would suggest a different sort of punishment, but there I go again in my quaint, old-fashioned way; seeking vengeance for the abuse of innocents!
Yep, we just watched it too.
Both of us have worked with people with learning difficulties
and children with emotional/behavioural difficulties.
All the abusers should be taken to trial and receive jail sentences.
There was nothing positive for the residents to do,
and the staff relieved the boredom by abusing/torturing the people they were supposed to care for.
It does raise an even bigger problem in our society,
about how we care for the old and vulnerable.
We take them away from all that they know, and put them in the care of some very dubious people.
Even in hospitals abuse goes on.
In previous generations, people tended to be looked after in the home or community.
Whilst that is not always practible now, I still believe that care needs to be more accessible and accountable to the local community, not the monolithic NHS.
The body charged with overseeing how these places are run, manifestly failed these patients -but still drew their £50,000 salaries.
Sharon Shoesmith is by no means alone in her attitude.
The private sector in health and social care coming to a town near you.
The hospital is privately owned.
The BBC exposed it.
!
Since some here think private industry can never do wrong, the investigation should now be closed.
Phantom -
No-one here thinks private industry can never do wrong, but even so this private facility is about as private as a government train company, i.e. not particularly.
The hospital was funded by the taxpayer. “Private” firms as free marketeers understand it operate outside the purlieu of the state. Without digging deeper, this sounds like a typical government trick of providing state services while getting financial liabilities off the book. If so, this isn’t private in any sense.
I see from the link:
Mr Bryan reported his concerns to both management at Winterbourne View and to the government regulator, the Care Quality Commission (CQC), but his complaint was not taken up.
Ian Biggs, regional director of the CQC for the southwest, said an opportunity to prevent abuse was missed when Mr Bryan’s complaints were not investigated.
“Had we acted at that time, as we have done now, we can act very quickly to cease that kind of treatment.
“We missed that chance and we are sorry for that and we’re doing everything we can now to make sure we’re responding properly.”
So this possibly not so private and in no way free market disaster turns out to have the usual state backstop of governence and regulation; as usual it failed. Hark the cry of more regulation where regulation has failed.
Lessons will be learned, budgets will be increased and no-one will lose their jobs because that’s not in the job description of government regulators.
The market’s natural regulator will kick in, Castlebeck’s phone will have stopped ringing from potential clients and the firm will pay. If you’re employed by the state you keep your job, if you’re employed by this “private firm”, maybe not so. Other operators will this morning be making sure there’s no need for the state broadcaster to do a job on them (I look forward to a similar BBC expose of the many NHS abuses of patients).
There’s state regulation, then there’s real regulation.
I cannot tell you how angry your post has just made me.