NEARLY three quarters of the patients who lived at the former Winterbourne View private hospital are no longer in institutionalised care, it was revealed this week.

Commissioners have reported to NHS England that of the 48 former patients at the facility on Vantage Park industrial estate in Hambrook, 34 are now in social care settings.

Last year, 11 former care workers and nurses admitted a total of 38 charges of neglect and abuse at Bristol Crown Court.

It followed a BBC Panorama programme aired in May 2011 which showed staff physically abusing patients, all of whom have severe learning difficulties, restraining and taunting them.

The footage, which showed some patients left lying outside in freezing conditions and others having water thrown over them, sparked national outrage and has resulted in case reviews being carried out by South Gloucestershire Council, Avon and Somerset police, the NHS and Winterbourne View owners Castlebeck, which has since gone into administration.

In response to the scandal, care minister Norman Lamb said all such hospital placements would be reviewed by June 1 2013 as more appropriate care could be found for people closer to home.

He has stated all patients found to be inappropriately placed in hospital should be moved to community-based support as quickly as possible and no later than June 1 2014.

Winterbourne View itself has since closed and the building has been bought by Glenside Care Group.