Undercover footage shows autistic patients 'tortured' in repeat of Winterbourne View scandal

Police are investigating undercover footage showing NHS patients with autism and learning difficulties being “tortured” in a scandal branded a second Winterbourne View.

Sixteen staff have been suspended at Whorlton Hall hospital in County Durham after being caught goading and swearing at patients, physically restraining them in a “dangerous” manner, as well as boasting about deliberately causing them pain.

The Panorama footage shows care workers at the secluded facility mimicking sex acts in front of a vulnerable patient using her teddy bears.

In one case, a severely autistic woman known to be scared of men was told by staff they were “pressing the man button”, at which point multiple male carers inundated her room.

Another patient with learning difficulties was held on the ground for more than 10 minutes while staff made a show of removing personal possessions from his room.

They also tormented him by telling him wrongly that he had diabetes.

Mental health campaigners said it “defies belief” that such practices are taking place eight years after another Panorama investigation exposed systematic physical and psychological abuse at the Winterbourne View hospital near Bristol.

That scandal, which saw six people jailed, prompted a pledge by David Cameron to close similar facilities within two years.

However, it is estimated that more than 2,300 adults with autism, learning or behavioural difficulties still reside in institutions such as Whorlton Hall, which is privately owned by Cygnet Health Care but NHS-funded.

The Care Quality Commission, which inspected the hospital in 2017, giving it a rating of “good”, last night apologised “deeply” for not picking up on the abuse.

The undercover reporter, Olivia Davies, worked as a carer at the hospital between December and February, a job which paid £16,000 a year.

Her footage showed one staff member referring to Whorlton Hall as a “house of mongs”.

A colleague calls a patient a “fat c**t”, while another patient was told her family are “f***king poison”.

A number of the 12 patients at Whorlton Hall live more than 100 miles from their families, and some have been there for more than a year.

The filming also captured scenes showing care workers threatening patients with violence.

One threatens to “deck” a patient; in a separate incident a staff member says “Get in there, punch me and see what happens. I’ll put you through the floor”.

In all, six care workers were captured on camera claiming they had deliberately hurt patients, including one who described banging a patient’s head against the floor.

Professor of Clinical Psychology and Disability Glynis Murphy, from the University of Kent, said the treatment amounted to “psychological torture”.

“It’s obviously a very deviant culture,” she said.

“They are the absolute antithesis of what care workers should be.”

Another academic, Professor Andrew McDonnell, an expert in the safe restraint of people with autism, criticised the length of restraints at Whorlton Hall.

"If there is no immediate risk of harm you back off," he said. "You're talking a threshold of a minute or two. Then let go."

Staff are required to write a report each time they use the technique.

However, undercover footage showed a deputy manager encouraging staff to fabricate their written accounts.

It also recorded a discussion about the upcoming instillation of CCTV in the hospital, which prompted one carer to say: “The good old days will be gone shortly”.

Winterbourne View and Whorlton Hall used to be owned by the same company, Castlebeck.

Following the Winterbourne View scandal, another company, Danshell, bought what was left of Castlebeck, including Whorlton Hall.

Danshell was bought last year by Cygnet.

A spokesman for the firm said: “ We are shocked and deeply saddened by the allegations made against members of staff at Whorlton Hall, part of the Danshell Group, which Cygnet recently acquired. We take these allegations extremely seriously.

"We have suspended all the members of staff involved, simultaneously informed all relevant authorities, including the police, who have now instigated an inquiry and we are cooperating fully with their investigation.”

Mark Rowland, Chief Executive of the Mental Health Foundation, said: “Eight years after Panorama uncovered systemic abuse of people with learning disabilities at Winterbourne View, it defies belief that this is still happening.

“After Winterbourne View, the government promised to reduce the number of people with learning disabilities who are kept in institutions for long periods.

"Yet more than 2,000 people are still in this hellish situation – more than half of whom have spent more than two years as inpatients."

The Department for Health and Social Care said: “We are working to ensure more people return home from hospital as soon as their treatment has finished and significant investment in community support has already led to a 22 per cent reduction in these mental health inpatient numbers since 2015.”

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