A report titled “Building the right support” said that between 45%-65% of clinical commissioning group (CCG) commissioned inpatient capacity, and 25%-40% of NHS England commissioned capacity, may close within that timeframe.
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The only remaining NHS hospital in England for people with learning difficulties is to be shut under a £45m plan to drive through modernisation of services following the Winterbourne View scandal.
Calderstones, which has 223 beds, is seen as symbolic of the NHS’s reluctance to abandon entirely the institutional model of care and support for learning disabled people.
Calderstones, opened a century ago, came in for heavy criticism in December from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) after inspectors found poor cleanliness and hygiene on the wards, low levels of staffing and too many instances when patients were restrained in the face-down position.
The 223-bed former secure mental health unit in the Ribble Valley, is the only NHS hospital in Britain specialising in learning disabilities.
A further 1,000 beds in so-called “assessment and treatment” (A&T) units in the NHS and private sectors will also be decommissioned over three years as alternative services are developed.
The new plans will see transforming care partnerships set up across England to help people with learning disabilities stay out of hospital and live in the community.
The programme, which led to six people being jailed, sparked a push for reform and now the NHS wants to offer people supported care in their own homes rather than institutions.
The move is a response to the abuse scandal at Winterbourne View – where a BBC Panorama investigation exposed the physical and psychological abuse of people with learning disabilities.
Jane Cummings, chief nursing officer for England and chair of the transforming care delivery board, said: “Society has failed this group of people for decades”.
The new plan predicts that as new community services are put in place, there will be a reduction of up to 50 per cent in the number of inpatient beds in England.
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From April, NHS organisations will pay the dowry to local authorities for those who have spent five years or more in inpatient facilities – around a third of the 2,600 people now in hospital. A progress review in 2018 will determine if the plan should be extended.
