Introduction
The Insider Voices Project is an exciting new project funded by NHS England. The aim of this project is to:
- Work with family carers who have lived experience of inpatient care to produce a resource for frontline nursing staff about the culture of an inpatient service.
- Highlight what action frontline staff can take if they have concerns about the culture of their workplace.
Family carers with lived experience of inpatient units and a representative from the Royal College of Nursing are guiding the co-production of this project.
Background
Reoccurring abuse and human rights scandals at inpatient units for people with learning disabilities and autistic people have led to a growing public awareness of how a lack of leadership and management and the presence of an institutional culture can place people at risk of harm.
There have been multiple efforts to highlight and address this over several reviews with a particular focus on closed and/or punitive cultures of care:
- In 2012, a Serious Case Review of Winterbourne View identified systemic failures which allowed a dangerous abusive culture to evolve among staff.
Read more about the Serious Case Review
- In 2019, the Care Quality Commission carried out a project focused on closed cultures which produced guidance and training for inspectors.
- In 2020, after the abuse of autistic people and people with learning disabilities at Whorlton Hall, an Independent Review by Professor Glynis Murphy recommended systemic changes to the system of safeguards.
Read more about the Independent Review
What has happened so far?
The Working Group is currently leading the development of a short film to raise awareness of the culture of services- and to empower learning disability nurses to become agents of culture change.
Family carers will share their experiences alongside representatives from the Royal College of Nursing and NHS England.
The film will be launched in May 2024.