Calderstones LD Hospital To Close

THE only NHS hospital in Britain that specialises in learning disabilities is to be shut down after inspectors found “serious deficiencies” in the quality of care.

In a move intended to help to transform the way people with autism and learning disabilities are cared for, the Department of Health is preparing to close Calderstones hospital in Lancashire. The 200 autistic and mentally disabled residents who live on its hospital wards will be moved into community care or smaller local institutions.

A senior Whitehall figure said: “We know what we have to do, and that is close Calderstones. Its staff can be retrained to care for people in the community.”

The closure of Calderstones and other in-patient facilities run by Calderstones Partnership NHS Foundation Trust will be signalled this week in a report by the NHS on learning disabilities. The report, Transforming Care — Next Steps, will state: “Too many people with learning disabilities are admitted to hospital . . . too many remain in hospital too long and instances of poor care remain too common.”

Calderstones, a former asylum, was criticised in an official report by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) last month. Inspectors found dirty wards and seclusion rooms, and discovered patients were often pinned face-down on the floor, a form of restraint that the NHS has said is unsafe and should not to be used.

Norman Lamb, the care and support minister, said he was “horrified” by the findings and wanted to send a “clear signal” to the trust that it must improve its treatment of patients.

Among those who have called for Calderstones to be closed is Lynne McCarrick, the mother of Chris McCarrick, 23, who was among the patients repeatedly restrained. His brother witnessed him being pinned down by seven members of staff, and a report found that he had suffered abuse at the institution.

Calderstones says it used restraint only as a last resort and for “the shortest time possible”. It pointed out that the CQC report found that “the great majority of people” at Calderstones were treated “kindly and respectfully”.

Talks about closing Calderstones have been going on at the health department for several weeks. They follow an NHS-commissioned report by Sir Stephen Bubb, chief executive of the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations, which called for a closures of institutions with patients suffering from learning disabilities.

In its response to the Bubb report, leaked to The Sunday Times, the NHS says Calderstones will be the first step in such a process. It says the north of England will be “a vanguard region”, where the way people with learning disabilities are cared for will be transformed “at pace”.

Whitehall sources said a disproportionate number of people with learning disabilities were being admitted to hospitals.