Article by Michelle Chinery a a leading advocate for the rights of people with learning difficulties, she is Co-Chair of the national Learning Disability Task Force. She also made a significant contribution to the learning disability White Paper Valuing People 2001.

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Everyone who lives in this country has the right to live free from harassment and abuse. This is part of the Human Rights Act. So why should people with learning disabilities have to live in a place where they suffer physical and mental abuse from the staff?

When I watched the MacIntyre Undercover care programme I noticed that the staff seemed to pick on certain people, people who were less able to speak up for themselves. The staff used physical restraints that were not just out of date, they were wrong, and dangerous. They grabbed one woman out of the chair by her hair. They were practically sitting on people. One staff member actually put her foot on someone's head! I couldn't believe that it was really happening.

The people who lived in that home didn't look well cared for. You could tell by the way they were dressed, you could tell that no-one was helping the women to make themselves look nice. One man was left half dressed in front of everyone else. The Right to Respect is also part of the Human Rights Act.

As some one with learning disabilities who has lived in a residential home I felt really angry to see people treated in this way. It annoyed me that only four of the staff were suspended immediately after the program was broadcast because I identified many more than four staff that were doing bad things. There is no excuse to treat the residents the way they did. Stress is no reason to abuse someone.

The home was way too big, no-one should have to live in a home that big. I live on my own now - I'm not watched 24 hours a day, no staff bug me. When I get annoyed with someone I can go off back to my own home without being bothered. The right to Privacy is also part of the Human Rights Act.

After the program one of the parents contacted People First (a campaigning organisation run by people with learning disabilities) for help. They were not getting the help they needed to come to terms with what they had been through.
The authorities involved should have given the people who lived in that home and their families the all help they needed.

It is really good that the Police realize they were wrong not to take this more seriously. We must never forget how much these people have suffered. It must have been really hard being moved to another home so suddenly. They have a lot to come to terms with. Everyone who lived in that home has their own personality, there own likes and dislikes, there own ways of communicating. I hope the people who went through all that get justice and an apology. I hope their lives are better now. And I hope that the staff who treated people so badly feel bad about what they have done, and never work with people with who need help again.

Article by Michelle Chinery