We are shocked and disgusted to hear of the deaths of Joanna, Ben and Nicholas and the appalling lack of ‘care’ they received at Cawston Park. How many more deaths? How many more closures? How many more reports and recommendations ? How many more years do we have to wait until the government acts to close private assessment and treatment units for people with learning disabilities, autism or mental health needs? We call on the government to act NOW to make sure Joanna, Ben and Nicholas’s suffering and deaths, like others before them, are not in vain.
The coalition government promised all such places would close by 2014, but the latest official figures show that there are still more than 2,000 vulnerable people in assessment and treatment units in England, which are unfit for purpose and vastly overpriced. Most have been there for more than two years.
This tragedy demonstrates yet again what happens when services are run for profit and not for people.
A BBC report giving an account of each death makes tragic reading.
The Safeguarding Adults Review ( SAR )report by Norfolk Safeguarding Adults Board makes a number of recommendations and also raises serious concerns about the lack of transparency and profit-making motives of private specialist hospitals, like Cawston Park, asking challenging questions about their continued use.
An Easy Read version of the report is available here.
Our hearts go out to Joanna, Ben and Nicholas’s families and friends.
