Edinburgh Napier University

  In the last 20 years or so there have been numerous reports, notably by the charity Mencap, that have highlighted the suboptimal care received by people with learning disabilities in hospitals and other inpatient care settings and have drawn public attention to the abuse often faced by this patient group, as well as to the avoidable deaths that have occurred among them. The Mencap (2007) report Death by Indifference triggered an independent inquiry that produced the Michael report (Michael 2008). The Michael report recommended creating a Learning Disabilities Public Health Observatory; improving training on learning disability in preregistration nursing education; and setting up a Confidential Inquiry into premature deaths of people with learning disabilities (CIPOLD), which would review the care received before death and explore any shortcomings.
The first CIPOLD report (Heslop et al 2013) showed that people with learning disabilities had poorer experiences of the healthcare system and died younger than the general population. It noted that ‘despite numerous previous investigations and reports… many professionals are still not meeting the needs of people with learning disabilities’ and ‘[they make] assumptions about quality of life or the appropriateness of medical or social care interventions’. Despite the myriad reports and enquiries, scandals have continued to break out in the media. More recent reports have concerned Muckamore Abbey (BBC, 2018) and Whorlton Hall (BBC Panorama 2019) and Muckamore Abbey (BBC December 2018).
With so many reported failings of care and cases of abuse it is legitimate to explore how and why the care of people with learning disabilities keeps breaking down. This article draws parallels between the abuse uncovered at Ely Hospital, Winterbourne View and Whorlton Hall, the objective being to determine possible reasons why abuse happens. These three settings were chosen because:
» The allegations of abuse were exposed by the media.
» There were recurring patterns of abuse, understaffing and unheeded warnings.
» Reports into the abuses were publicly available.