Winterbourne View - 11 year anniversary

Today (31st May 2022) marks 11 years since BBC Panorama exposed abuse at Winterbourne View hospital.  

In 2021 a group of families whose relatives were at Winterbourne View published ‘Tea, Smiles and Empty Promises’ highlighting the lack of progress over the last decade. The report also shared the experiences of multiple other families whose relatives have experienced poor care over the last 10 years.   

‘Tea, Smiles and Empty Promises’ made three clear calls for action: 

• Avoid traumatising children and adults with learning disabilities and autistic people in the first place by providing the right support at the right time in the right place 
• A focus shift to early intervention and preventing admission/ readmission, as well as getting people out of inpatient units 
• Provide appropriate trauma support for individuals and their families 

11 years on from Winterbourne View we are still waiting for publication of the Building The Right Support action plan. When published, the action plan must fully address and sufficiently resource the three actions identified above.  

Download ‘Tea, Smiles and Empty Promises’

The latest data published by NHS Digital shows too many children, young people and adults with learning disabilities and autistic people remain in inpatient settings. See the latest infographic here.  

Support from the CBF  

Family Support Service  

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this news article  you can call the Family Support Service on 0300 666 0126  

Or email us at support@thecbf.org.uk  

We are open at the following times:  

Monday – Thursday: 9am – 5pm 
Friday: 9am – 3pm  

We offer information about challenging behaviour to anyone who provides support to a child, young person or adult with a severe learning disability. We can also signpost you to other specialist organisations and sources of information.  

Please note we are a small support service so you may not be able to get support straight away. We will support families with urgent concerns as a priority.  

Professionals are also welcome to contact the CBF.

Resources on our website  

Read the CBF’s information on ‘when things go wrong’

Read CBF and Mencap’s Meeting The Challenge – guides for families

Read NAS’s ‘Advice and support for autistic and their family members on mental health and being admitted to mental health hospitals’