Book review: Longcare Survivors: The Biography of a Care Scandal

Longcare Survivors: The Biography of a Care Scandal

John Pring

Disability News Service

ISBN 9780956892201

Longcare Survivors starts gently with a look at the history of care until the present day and includes referencing and further reading, writes Ian Taylor.

From there it gets nasty as John Pring looks deeper into the horrific abuse of people with learning disabilities at Longcare homes in Buckinghamshire, which was exposed in 1994.

The author studies the background of the person responsible before a disturbing passage on just about every kind of abuse that was subjected upon the residents.

The book looks at the failings of the care system and what allowed the perpetrator to get away with all that he did over such a long period.

The author presents what has changed and what needs to change, especially within current legislation.

There are interviews with the victims of the abuse, many of whom are still suffering today as a consequence of what happened at Longcare.

The conclusion focuses on the abuse perpetrated by one man but this man was only taking advantage of the inequality and hostility ingrained in our society towards people less fortunate than ourselves.

Ian Taylor is a day centre manager