The National Autistic Society has said staff at a severely criticised provision it runs will not be disciplined for its failings, despite the UK’s health watchdog condemning it for its care of people with autism.
Excessive use of seclusion and restraint, vague care plans and poor reporting procedures are just some of the failings of Orchard House, an accommodation block for students aged 16 and older based on the site of the NAS’s £200,000-a-year Broomhayes School in Devon.
The Care Quality Commission discovered the failings in a surprise visit to the school in September. Inspectors witnessed a resident walking naked through communal gardens.
The NAS has been campaigning to “stamp out abuse and neglect” of autistic people in care homes following a Panorama-led exposure of abuse at Winterbourne View Hospital, near Bristol, in 2011.
Despite the CQC findings, the NAS told Autism Eye it had no plans to launch disciplinary action against any of its staff at Orchard House. It said: “There was nothing unlawful at Orchard House that would lead to disciplinary action against staff.”
The CQC’s view of Orchard House is that the NAS “had not made suitable arrangements to ensure that people using the service were protected against the risks of abuse”. It went on: “People using the service were not protected against the risks of unlawful or excessive use of control or restraint.”
The autism charity said internal staff and senior management regularly carry out visits, inspections and spot checks on all its sites.
Now the NAS has been instructed to make immediate improvements at Orchard House or risk fines or closure. The CQC said of the provision: “This service was not meeting all CQC national standards and we are taking enforcement action.”
The NAS said it has introduced new management, increased staff training, invested in changes to the physical environment and “will continue making all the improvements needed”.
A spokesperson said: “We are taking the findings of the CQC report very seriously and fully accept that we were not reaching the high standards of care that we set ourselves.”
The NAS runs seven special schools in England and Scotland, where it is responsible for setting the curriculum and recruiting and training staff. The charity, which has an annual revenue of £92.3 million, was told by the CQC that at Orchard House “staffing levels were not at all times sufficient to meet the care needs of individuals”.
The full CQC report can be read here.
Published: 12 December 2013
