Report finds half of learning disability services did not meet standards

A Care Quality Commission programme of unannounced inspections, carried out in the wake of the abuse uncovered by the BBC Panorama programme at Winterbourne View Hospital, found that there was a one in two chance of people with learning disabilities being in a service that did not meet the required standards.

The inspections focused on examining the care and welfare of people who use services, and whether people were safe from abuse.

The CQC inspectors were joined by professional experts and ‘experts by experience’ – people who have first hand experience of care or as a family carer and who can provide the patient or carer perspective.

The findings are revealed in a national report that analyses the results. Overall, CQC found that nearly half the hospitals and care homes inspected did not meet the required standards.

The inspections conclude that some assessment and treatment services admit people for disproportionately long spells of time and that discharge arrangements take too long to arrange.   
CQC says this raises important questions about the patterns of commissioning behaviour and practices across England and that there is now an urgent need for commissioners to review the care plans for people in treatment and assessment services so that they can move on to appropriate care settings. 

The report also says there are still lessons to be learned by providers about the use of restraint. There is an urgent need to reduce the use restraint, together with training in the appropriate techniques for restraint when it is unavoidable.

CQC says that too often people are fitted into services rather than services being tailored to people’s individual needs.

CQC inspectors have since returned to many services where concerns were identified to check that improvements have been delivered. Where concerns were identified the location was required to provide an action plan to show how they would improve. All non compliant services will receive unannounced inspections.
In total 150 inspections were carried out as part of the programme. The national report provides an analysis of the findings of 145 inspections as the first five pilot inspections were excluded.

Dame Jo Williams the chair of the CQC, said: “While our inspections found examples of good care, too often they found that services were not meeting the individual needs of people.

“This isn’t about developing more guidance – there’s plenty of evidence about what constitutes good care and good commissioning – it’s about making sure that providers, commissioners and regulators focus on care that is based on individuals.”

'People who use these services need care and support and they and their families need to be treated with care and respect' – Dame Jo Williams the chair of the CQC