Ray James: ‘I want those still in care to tell their truths to people like me’

Six years after the Winterbourne View abuse scandal, Ray James’ new job is to ensure people with learning disabilities can move on from long-stay units

Ray James wants to feel uncomfortable. It’s the best way, he thinks, to make health and care leaders take action to break the logjam that keeps almost 2,500 people with learning disabilities and autism in specialist hospitals in England six years after the Winterbourne View scandal. The Panorama exposé of systematic abuse of patients so shocked the nation that ministers promised to close such places down.

James, 52, has been appointed the first national learning disability director at NHS England, with a brief to do whatever necessary to make progress on that pledge.

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Continue reading... November 21, 2017 at 07:30PM