Part of that may be regional in the US -- in the South where I come from, we'd say, "Your sweater needs washing," but here in the Midwest, people say, "Your sweater needs washed."

But the syntax of 'needs the operation of a whistle explaining to them' is something I would never hear in the South.

(A contemporary American would probably never use 'want' to mean 'need' as in your 'wants his head examining' example, either. It shows up in hymns sometimes, and sounds so strange to my ear -- "Bread of heaven, bread of heaven/feed me till I want no more.")