30.04.14
Patients with learning disabilities given ‘anti-psychotic’ drugs
Two-thirds of inpatients with learning disabilities in England treated in specialists units have been given anti-psychotic medication, new analysis from the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) has revealed.
The 2013 Learning Disability Census, commissioned in response to events at Winterbourne View Hospital, where undercover footage showed staff repeatedly assaulting and harshly restraining patients, also highlighted that more than 90% of patients treated with these drugs were given them on a regular basis.
Additionally, more than half of the service users had been the subject of at least one incident involving self-harm, an accident, physical assault on the service user, hands-on restraint or seclusion during the three months preceding the Census. Proportionally, more females experienced every type of incident than males.
There also appears to be an association between hands-on restraint and the administration of major tranquiliser class drugs; 40.4% (889) of the 2,220 given these drugs had experienced at least one instance of hands-on restraint compared to 21.4% (221) of the 1,030 who were not given any of this medication.
Kingsley Manning, chair of the HSCIC, said: “The Learning Disabilities Census, and this further analysis, is an important contribution to understanding how episodes such as those seen at Winterbourne View Hospital can be avoided in the future.
“This further analysis of the census data will aid understanding of the experience of inpatients with learning disabilities nationally, and is an important benchmark.
However, learning disability charity Mencap stated that despite the scandal at Winterbourne View, the new report shows that in the last three years there has been no real reduction in concerning incidents in similar places and the percentages of people experiencing self-harm, hands-on restraint and being kept in isolation are higher.
Jan Tregelles, chief executive of Mencap, and Vivien Cooper, chief executive of The Challenging Behaviour Foundation, said: “[In] December, we were told that two and half years on from the Winterbourne View scandal, 3,250 people with a learning disability were still stuck in similar institutions. This was shocking enough, but what we have heard today about the actual circumstances of these individuals is profoundly worrying.
“That some of the most vulnerable people in our society are in settings where they are regularly restrained, over medicated and kept in isolation is utterly disgraceful.”
Survey responses for the report were received from 104 provider organisations on behalf of 3,250 service users who met the inclusion criteria for the 2013 Learning Disabilities Census.
Tell us what you think – have your say below or email [email protected]