Children at an NHS funded private hospital allegedly suffered physical abuse at the hands of staff who were found on CCTV dragging patients around corridors, The Independent can reveal.
Joyce Parker Hospital in Coventry, run by Cygnet Health Care, has been sent an official warning by the Care Quality Commission after inspectors found CCTV evidence young patients had suffered physical abuse by staff.
The hospital, which has 22 mental health beds, has been told it failed to protect patients from “abuse and improper treatment”, in an official warning this month. Nine NHS patients are left in the unit although it is not clear how many the provider had at the time.
CQC inspectors found CCTV footage which appeared to show staff dragging patients out of rooms and accross the floors.
The West Midlands Police is currently investigating a number of allegations made about the hosptial, officials confirmed.
Coventry City Council said a “multi-agency” investigation is underway into the allegations, but would not comment further.
The CQC can issued Section 29s notices following an inspection which notifies a provider it is failing to comply with Health and Social Care legislation. These notices are not usually published although can be mentioned within an overall inspection report when this is published.
Providers are able to make challenges to the CQC if it feels a notice has been unreasonably served or inaccurate.
Cygnet Health Care said in response to The Independent the CQC warning has yet to be published and it is in discussion with the watchdog. However it said as part of discussions it refutes the allegations of abuse by the CQC but has reported some “inappropriate use of restraint during very difficult circumstances” in line with its duties.
A spokesperson for the CQC said confirmed it carried out an urgent inspection of Cygnet Health Joyce Parker Hospital following concerns raised and following this has taken enforcement action. However it is not restricting admissions to the unit.
Cygnet Health Care is one of the largest providers of privately run inpatient mental health hospitals in the UK and receives hundreds of millions of pounds from the NHS each year. In September 2023 the provider was fined £1.5 million over failures linked to the death of a patient at a mental health hospital it runs in Ealing.
The news comes after a national inquiry was opened into inpatient mental healthcare across the country following reports by The Independent and Sky News of systemic abuse of patients at hospitals run by another provider called The Huntercombe Group.
The CQC told the hospital in a Section 29 warning on 8 August, seen by The Independent, it was concerned staff were physically abusing patients by dragging them while restraining them.
CCTV footage seen by the CQC insectors of wards in Joyce Parker Hospital showed incidents of patients beeing restrained and dragged around. In one incident a patient was restrained by staff and dragged backwards, along the floor.
During this incident seven staff followed two patients into a bedroom up to seven staff members were seen dragging one of the patents out and putting them on the floor in the corridor.
In a third incident after a patient kicked a wall but showed no risk of posing harm to themselves or others, workers dragged that patient into a room and held down on a sofa by two members of staff for 10 minutes.
Inspectors also found managers did not adequately supervise staff and did not ensure an appropriate level of training.
In 2019 when the hospital was providing services for adult women with personality disorders and eating disorders, it received an inadequate rating and was placed in special measures by the CQC.
Again, in May 2020 it received a warning from the CQC after concerns raised by patients and their relatives prompted the watchdog to inspect the hospital.
