Winterbourne View Panorama Investigation: Two More Women Arrested
Police investigating alleged serious abuse at a care home near Bristol following undercover filming by the BBC’s Panorama have arrested two women.
The programme alleged serious abuse was carried out at Winterbourne View Hospital – a private care home for people with learning disabilities.
The women, aged 22 and 21, were questioned by Avon and Somerset Police and were released on bail.
Last week, another woman and three men were arrested and released on bail.
The programme appeared to show some of the hospital’s most vulnerable patients being repeatedly pinned down, slapped, dragged into showers while fully clothed, taunted and teased.
The hospital’s owners, Castlebeck, have apologised and suspended 13 employees.
‘Sickened’
Three men – aged 42, 30 and 25 – and a 24-year-old woman were arrested following the broadcast of the programme last week.
The hospital, which is taxpayer-funded, is to be investigated by the Care Quality Commission.
Labour leader Ed Miliband has called for an independent inquiry into the alleged abuse, saying he was “sickened” by what the programme showed.
The Care Quality Commission has said, following an internal review, that it recognised that “there were indications of problems at this hospital which should have led to us taking action sooner”.
“We apologise to those who have been let down by our failure to act more swiftly to address the appalling treatment that people at this hospital were subjected to,” it said.
The vulnerable patients filmed by Panorama have been moved to safety.
Same Difference 