Slade House is not allowed to take any new admissions until action is taken.
The unit provides care for people with a
learning disability
A learning disability is to do with the way someone's brain works. It makes it harder for someone to learn, understand or do things.
and people with mental health problems.
Jan Tregelles, chief executive of Mencap, and Vivien Cooper, CEO of The
Challenging Behaviour
Challenging behaviour can be when someone hurts themselves, hits or pinches someone else, or breaks something. Some people might behave like this because they are upset or because people do not understand them.
Foundation, say:
We were all sickened by the appalling abuse
Abuse is when someone bullies you and does or says something to you that makes you feel hurt, upset or scared. of people with a learning disability exposed at Winterbourne View, yet over two and a half years later, we are still hearing that assessment and treatment centres are failing the very people they exist to support.
The Care Quality Commission has uncovered shocking failures at Slade House in Oxford [1], and it has now also been confirmed that in the summer a young man died there whilst in the care of that unit [2]. How many more cases of neglect
Neglect is when you are not being cared for or supported. , abuse and now death do we need to see before action is taken?
We have serious doubts about whether the government
The Government are the people who run the country. The Government decide how much tax
Tax is the money that pays for things like schools, hospitals and the police. There are different types of taxes like income tax
Income tax is the money that is taken out of the money you earn every month. It helps to pay for things we all need like hospitals and schools. , VAT
VAT is also called Value Added Tax. VAT is the extra money you pay when you buy things. The money goes to the government to pay for things like schools and hospitals. and council tax
Council
A council is also called a local authority
A local authority is also called a council. They are a group of people who make decisions about some of the things in the area where you live like schools, social care
Social care means the services that give care and support to people who need it. (support for people), parks and dustbin collection. . They are a group of people who make decisions about some of the things in the area where you live. These include: schools, social care (support for people), parks and dustbin collection. Tax is the money that people pay to the council
Being vulnerable means being at risk of harm, or that you need special care because of your age or disability. people remain in these units, they are at high risk of abuse.
-ENDS-
Notes to editors
For more information, please contact the Mencap press office on 020 7696 6950 or media@mencap.org.uk.
[1] CQC inspection report of Slade House: www.cqc.org.uk/directory/rw11v
[2] My daft life blog: mydaftlife.wordpress.com/
About Out of sight
Out of Sight is a
campaign
A campaign is when people work together to try to change something.
report by Mencap and the Challenging Behaviour Foundation and tells the stories of James, Chrissy, Joe, Emmanuel and Victoria. In the report, their families talk about the terrible neglect and abuse their loved ones have experienced in institutions like Winterbourne View, often far away from home.
Mencap and The Challenging Behaviour Foundation are two of the voluntary
organisations
Organisations are groups like companies and businesses.
who were asked to sign a Concordat agreement with the Department of Health, to hold the government to account.
The charities will continue to work to ensure people with learning disabilities and their families have a strong voice in all of the Winterbourne View Joint Improvement Programme work, as well as providing support to families fighting to bring their loved ones back closer to home.
About Mencap
There are 1.4 million people with a learning disability in the UK. Mencap works to support people with a learning disability, their families and carers by fighting to change laws, improve services and access to
education
Education is when you learn things. When you fill in a form to get a job, education means you write where you went to school, college or university.
,
employment
Employment means having a job.
and
leisure
Leisure is when you have time to do things you enjoy like playing sports or going to the pub.
facilities.
Mencap supports thousands of people with a learning disability to live their lives the way they want.
For advice and information about learning disability and Mencap services in your area, contact Mencap Direct on 0808 808 1111 (9am-5pm, Monday-Friday) or email help@mencap.org.uk.
About The Challenging Behaviour Foundation
The Challenging Behaviour Foundation provides information, support and training around challenging behaviour associated with severe learning disabilities, and leads the ‘Challenging Behaviour National
Strategy
A strategy is a plan to show what an organisation, or a person, wants to do and how they are going to do it.
Group’ which seeks to influence policy and practice nationally on behalf of individuals who challenge and their families.
The Challenging Behaviour Foundation was founded in 1997 by Vivien Cooper, parent of a son with severe learning disabilities and behaviour described as challenging. Today the Challenging Behaviour Foundation is in regular contact with over 5000 families and professionals across the UK.
There are an estimated 30,000 individuals in England with severe learning disabilities and behaviour described as challenging.