Whorlton Hall abuse

[cansu]

I have looked on many sections and cannot find any threads on this. Surely I can't be the only person to be heartbroken at watching the violence and abuse of vulnerable people with autism and disabilities? Where is the outrage from others on here? I can't even find anything on Matt Hancock's twitter or website with a response to what is a terrible verdict on the NHS commissioners, clinicians, management and the regulator.

@cansu Unfortunately, in some buildings, management isn't being monitored by the senior/area management, so as was shown in the documentary, some are a law unto themselves, and are not upholding procedures. It's a huge flaw in the company structure. It's currently changing, and more inspections at all staffing levels are being undertaken on a regular and random basis.
There aren't wards in these buildings, everyone has a private room, some also have private lounges. Families can visit at any time, no notice required, including mealtimes, (and are welcome to join meals in the dining room). The families are free to spend time in the patients private rooms, or in the lounges/gardens etc.

Peapod Surprisingly enough no, your little PR statement offers no reassurance whatsoever. Because the problem isn't with one building, one home or one company. It's a far more widespread problem. Do you not think parents and relatives of vulnerable adults have heard that crap before?
Because they have, several times over. They make promises it'll never happen again, and it does, over and over again. People have died and these cases still happen. And it will continue to happen as long as disabled people are seen as subhuman and financial burdens by society at large. And it'll happen as long as private companies are allowed to have anything to do with care for disabled adults.

You know it's funny, the government (and people defending benefit cuts and cuts to services for the disabled) are always going on about how there's not enough money, yet there's plenty of money to spend on places like this. Magically enough there's enough money to spend thousands of pounds a week on locking up autistic and learning disabled adults in assessment units, often miles away from their family which makes them even more vulnerable to abuse. Yet try and get support to help take care of them at home and it's like banging your head against a brick wall. Councils are happy to pay for disabled adults to be locked up miles away from home, but not for them to be included in their own communities, even when it's the cheaper option. Funny that. It's "out of sight and out of mind" all over again.

As a PP said, the penalties for the untermensch who abuse these poor, powerless people are simply not severe enough.

What worried me even more was the comment from one of the 'care' workers that CCTV would not stop it - followed by a description of how it was possible to inflict severe pain on a client without appearing to be doing anything untoward. That comment also showed the deliberate and gratuitous nature of the abuse.

I worked for danshell in office up until a couple of months ago so have just had a quiet cry / text another ex employee who is also really upset. Can't bring myself to watch it, only read the article.

Given the level of sexualised, aggressive language and lewd behaviour demonstrated by the male 'carers' in last night's programme - at one point one of them lay down on a bed next to a female patient - I would be fearful that when on their own with patients there might well be incidents of sexual abuse, as well as the horrors we witnessed. They were obviously testing the boundaries with their new colleague (the undercover reporter) and observing how she was reacting to what they were saying and doing. What are they like when they are confident of their audience, I wonder?

I could cry with frustration every time I hear of vulnerable, disabled people being abused, taken advantage of and tortured (that's what some of the incidents in the footage amount to, IMHO) in this way. It's utter cowardice to pick on people who can't fight back and I hope those who were caught on camera in this investigation are severely punished.

JanMeyer unfortunately it probably is a lot cheaper to have this kind of facility, staff are paid low wages, specialised equipment can be shared, etc. We started to branch into supported living (so a person has their own home in the community with sufficient carers to keep them safe) and just with adaptations that needed to be made to buildings etc it cost 10x them being in a service. Noone in the company was making a lot of money, most departments were stretched pretty thin.

watcherintherye

I am also appalled and shocked at the level of sexual misconduct. Utterly utterly disgusting and I really do wonder how much these men are affected by porn and their obsession with sex. I would be seriously worried and not surprised if sexual abuse is not on going. Never come across such a group of monstrous human beings.

24 hours later I can still hear Amy’s screams and look of terror. I hope by police investigation they mean those individuals have been arrested. I’m surprised their names aren’t all over Twitter, as their faces were shown I bet they are finally scared to leave the house

CoolBee They really are the dregs of humanity. What can possibly make people behave in such way? I don't know how such sadistic and dysfunctional people can be weeded out and prevented from working in care - psychometric testing, maybe? - but they are the last people on earth who should be in such a role

Thanks for clarifying pp!
I just felt 2 month was a long time for those poor people to keep suffering.
I am a nurse and just can’t comprehend how people can do this. I’ve successfully challenged members of staff who have slipped below care standards of expectation just on first instances so hate to think that it had to go on for 2 months in order to bring a hard case towards those involved. Sickening.

This sounds absolutely awful but unfortunately I'm not surprised.

People in positions of power, paid little? Not a good combination.

@managedmis

People in positions of power, paid little? Not a good combination.

I disagree there, no one should view caring for someone as a position of power. No matter how much they're paid. Certainly low wages are an issue here, but there are plenty of people on that wage that don't behave in that manner. In every interaction with a patient they should be the ones with the 'power' care workers are there to empower the person to live as well as possible. I do understand that it can give some people a sense of power over someone more vulnerable, but simply raising wages isn't the answer in my honest opinion. It requires a whole change, from the top down.

And I was also disturbed at the sexual misconduct. If that were a child it could be considered grooming, and that's what I consider it in this case.

I’m confused about a few things.

To all the PPs who have said that these hospitals should be closed; wouldn’t these people still need carers wherever they lived?

Surely, if they lived alone, less people would see them, such as the doctors and the potential for abuse would be even greater?

Secondly, I didn’t think that the Job Centre could force anyone into care work. I mean, the Job Centre can force people to look for work, but they are allowed to be really picky about the area that they want to work in.
I mean, if they tried to force you to apply to become a traffic warden, you’d make sure you didn’t get the job, surely?

Witches You really need to do some catching up.

To all the PPs who have said that these hospitals should be closed; wouldn’t these people still need carers wherever they lived?
Yes, but many are moved to 'appropriate' facilities, miles from home so family visiting is restricted by distance and also by visiting times. If someone can be cared for in the community, then they're more likely to be closer to family and have neighbours, other people around, go out more, there's less likelihood of abuse in that situation. The only thing is people on a section, they are detained for a set period of time, for their own or others safety, in a unit supposed to meet their needs.

Surely, if they lived alone, less people would see them, such as the doctors and the potential for abuse would be even greater?
You have a point, but the culture that was within this home bred on it being a 'closed' environment. Living alone, or within a community, that has less chance of that culture happening because as I said above, more family involvement, an 'open house' policy, involvement in the community etc.

Secondly, I didn’t think that the Job Centre could force anyone into care work. I mean, the Job Centre can force people to look for work, but they are allowed to be really picky about the area that they want to work in.
I mean, if they tried to force you to apply to become a traffic warden, you’d make sure you didn’t get the job, surely?

You get sanctioned for not job searching enough, not attending interviews, not taking offered jobs. Some people get desperate. That's not the incentive needed for good care workers. The good care workers are also at risk of losing their jobs if they whistleblow - oh it won't be termed like that, they might just have hours slashed, or be bullied, or sacked for a made up reason, but it'll likely happen and then they are on benefits, maybe having been sacked, with little chance of getting employed again. And of they get a whiff of making sure you don't get a job, well another sanction.

Universal Credit has basically cancelled out any whistleblower protection. (what there was of it)

The should far stronger crime penalties put in place for anyone working in these places. I am sorry but it is simply not good enough for all the professionals to turn a blind eye, to these abuses-they should all be prosecuted and their duty of care threshold should be higher.

I have one family member who suffers from learning disabilities and lives at home. They are well cared for but I know it is a struggle to find adequate, provisions locally for them. So its various family members help and care for that person.

I know of one other distant family member whose child has severe autism and is non verbal, they struggle everyday. They have had so many cuts locally to services, their situation is quite dire.
Eventually they will have to look at care, once the parents pass on and that prospect is incredibly daunting/terrifying for all concerned.

The Government is going out of its way to make the lives of people with disabilities extra hard and are taking away their humanity.
The Government has money for frivolous things(unwanted State visits etc) but nothing for the most vulnerable in society.
There really should be a full public/media campaigns to impose harsher prison sentences for people who abuse those with disabilities.
Councils too must be held accountable and social services- the general populous need to come together and everyone needs to make a stand.

The BBC are reporting that 10 staff - 7 men and 3 women - have now been arrested.

I am a very non violent, liberal kind of person but I feel terrible rage against these people as it is the very worse kind of cruelty to victimise someone who cannot fight back. I have been troubled by this all day and am really questioning my son's care now.

I think that they should have a crime of "corporate bullying" or "corporate abuse". Something that would make the chief executive and the board of the homes criminally responsible if something like this happens. This would be an incentive to them to make sure they really do employ the right staff and train and oversee them properly.
Of course this would make it harder to make a profit, and make care more expensive. But I can't see another way of doing it.

@PenguinWings

Totally agree, and instead of charging more, they need to cap profit that can be made out of care business, it's disgusting people are getting rich from money that's supposed to ensure someone is cared for properly.

Grumpymug and peguin the problem is people behave according to who is watching don't they? I have actually visited this site with my old boss, and yes my job was nothing to do with the care staff so not really what we were looking at etc but I can honestly say we didn't notice anything which just makes it all the more upsetting.

floodymuddle this is exactly the issue with the regulator. You can't regulate these places and therefore I don't think that they should be used. They operate as psychiatric hospitals. Parents and visitors are at arms length. The people are isolated; many are non verbal and abusive staff are in all likelihood pleasant in front of others.
The solution is care in small local provisions where care is person centred; people have access to the community and families are involved.

I have a beautiful autistic son and I can’t bring myself to watch it. Close these places down.