Ministers urged to launch inquiry into inpatient mental health services after ‘systemic abuse’ allegations

Ministers have been urged to launch a public inquiry into the care of mental health patients after The Independent revealed allegations patients had suffered “systemic abuse” in units.

A joint investigation with Sky News found teenagers at facilities run by The Huntercombe Group had been left with post-traumatic stress disorder by their treatment, despite hundreds of warnings to regulators and the NHS.

Now the government is facing calls to review all mental health care services over fears the cases are “the tip of the iceberg”.

Labour shadow mental health minister Dr Rosena Allin Khan, has called for “rapid review” from the government, into inpatient mental health services while Deborah Coles, chief executive of INQUEST, has called the new health secretary Steve Barclay to launch a statutory public.

This week The Independent revealed allegations from 22 patients, about “systemic abuse” within children’s mental health hospitals run by The Huntercombe Group, which has run at least six children’s mental health hospitals, between 2012 and this year.

The Department for Health and Social Care said it has launched a probe into the allegations of the 22 young women. However, when asked by The Independent it did not share any specific details of the investigation.

Following the investigation, more patients have come forward with allegations of poor care.

The Centre for Mental Health has called for “reform” of the mental health system which it says “creates the conditions for abuse and mistreatment to happen in mental health inpatient services.”

Ms Coles said: “The staggering and shocking thing about the investigation was the fact that all these warnings went unheard [and] didn’t trigger that response.

“It’s an absolutely horrific example of a systemic problem and you know, sadly, the tip of an iceberg.

“I think it requires, a far broader public inquiry to ensure we actually uncover once and for all what is going on behind the closed doors of these institutions. They are acting almost with impunity, and they are not subjected to that robust monitoring and inspection.”

Ms Coles added: “Rather than looking at this as isolated, having isolated reviews or inquiries, we need to have a statutory public inquiry into mental health services, deaths, and the serious harms that are going on within these within these places.”

Andy Bell, deputy chief executive for the think tank said: “Mental health inpatient services should be a safe, respectful and compassionate place for people of all ages when they are most unwell. Sadly that’s not always the case. We need to reform the system that creates the conditions for abuse and mistreatment to happen in mental health inpatient services.

“The Government must continue to fund improvements to mental health services at a time when need is rising in the wake of the pandemic and the cost of living crisis.

“It must modernise the Mental Health Act to ensure coercion is used as little and as fairly as possible. And the NHS locally must ensure that the services it pays for are safe and effective and that no one is left for too long in hospitals or care homes for lack of appropriate support to go home to.

In a letter to new Health Secretary Steve Barclay, shared with The Independent and Sky News, Dr Allin Khan said: “As I am sure you will agree, yesterday’s Sky News and Independent report into the treatment of young women at inpatient units ran by The Huntercombe Group was extremely distressing.

“Patients, and their families, rightly expect to be safe in inpatient settings. It is incredibly distressing to hear of the excessive use of restraint and the conditions in which patients were kept. With patients suffering from PTSD as a result of their treatment, the long-term impact of their experiences cannot be ignored.”

She said the investigation was particularly “alarming” coming weeks after a expose by Panorama highlighted abuses in Greater Manchester Mental Health Trust and a Dispatches report into failing across Essex mental health hospitals.

Dr Allin Khan has written to former Health Secretary Therese Coffey twice since the end of September about the issues, however, did not receive a response.

Xural.com