What was Winterbourne View Hospital?
Winterbourne View was an
assessment
An assessment is a way of finding out what help a person needs. When you have an assessment, you might have to go to a meeting or fill in a form.
and treatment unit (a type of mental health hospital) 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.
.
Significant abuse Abuse is when someone bullies you and does or says something to you that makes you feel hurt, upset or scared. and  neglect Neglect is when you are not being cared for or supported.  of some of the people at Winterbourne View led to 11 members of staff being sentenced. There was a national outcry after the documentary was shown and the hospital was closed.
No amount of worrying would have led me to assume that he was being abused by the people paid to provide his care, or that he, and his  vulnerable Being vulnerable means being at risk of harm, or that you need special care because of your age or disability.  peers, would be central to one of the biggest abuse scandals of our time.
Ann and Colin's story
15 years ago, a whistleblower alerted the BBC to abuse taking place behind locked doors at Winterbourne View, a mental health hospital.
The undercover Panorama investigation that followed shocked the nation. Colin, a whistleblower, and Ann, whose son Simon was at Winterbourne View, reflect on their experiences.
Following the exposure of the abuse at Winterbourne View, there have been many promises and targets set by the government The Government are the people who run the country. They decide how much tax people should pay for things and how things like the National Health Service should work. to move people with a learning disability and autistic people inappropriately detained out of mental health hospitals and into the community A community is the people and places in an area. with the right support. All national targets to date have been missed.
2026 marks 15 years since Winterbourne View
The latest commitment is to reduce both the number of adults with a learning disability and the number of autistic adults in mental health hospitals by 10% each year.
Find out more on our Homes not Hospitals webpage.
Tea, smiles and empty promises
Families of some former patients at Winterbourne View came together to mark 10 years since the abuse scandal at the inpatient unit was uncovered, sharing their harrowing stories to highlight continuation of the scandal and the desperate need for change.
Out of Sight reports
In 2012 Mencap and 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 published Out of Sight, a report highlighting the failings in the system for people with a learning disability with behaviour that challenges. In 2014 there was a follow-up report ‘Out of Sight the Scandal Continues’.
Further information
'Seeking help' image by Josh.