Two more arrests in Winterbourne View abuse case

Police have made two more arrests in connection with the Winterbourne View learning disability abuse scandal, bringing the total to 11.

Two men were arrested on suspicion of assault or mistreatment of people under the Mental Capacity Act and bailed, pending further enquiries, Avon and Somerset Police said yesterday.

The news came as it was announced that an adult protection expert had been appointed to chair the serious case review into the abuse uncovered at the Bristol-based private learning disability hospital, run by Castlebeck.

Margaret Flynn will oversee the examination into what lessons can be learned from agencies’ failure to prevent the abuse, which was exposed in a BBC Panorama programme last week. The SCR has been commissioned by South Gloucestershire Safeguarding Adults Board.

Flynn chaired the highest profile adults SCR in recent history, into the 2006 murder of Steven Hoskin, a learning disabled man from Cornwall. This made far-reaching recommendations to reform adult protection nationally, including by raising its profile and tightening up multi-agency working.

She is also chair of Lancashire Safeguarding Adults Board and joint editor of the Journal of Adult Protection.

Key issues that the SCR will examine are:-

• Why a safeguarding meeting on Winterbourne View was delayed until February 2011, despite concerns about abuse being passed on to South Gloucestershire Council in November 2010.
• Why the Care Quality Commission failed to respond to three reports of abuse by whistleblower Terry Bryan.
• The role of primary care trust commissioners who placed people at Winterbourne View and how much they knew about conditions in the home.

The SCR is expected to commence in July but is only likely to report following the conclusion of criminal proceedings.

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