Revealed: Mental health patients who reported ‘abuse’ ignored by NHS and regulator

Investigation: Young girls and their families tried to raise the alarm about a scandal-hit private hospital chain. They tell Rebecca Thomas they did not even receive a response from officials

The Huntercombe Group is facing a legal challenge from nine former patients (Getty Images)

Patients and their families who reported allegations of abuse at a chain of mental health units did not even receive responses from the regulator and the NHS, The Independent can reveal.

An investigation by The Independent and Sky News last month exposed how “systemic abuse” went unchecked at hospitals run by The Huntercombe Group over a number of years.

Now more patients have come forward – bringing the total number of cases past 50 – and shown how they tried to raise the alarm to the health service and Care Quality Commission, but say they were ignored while abuse continued.

It can also be revealed that police are investigating the alleged rape of a child by a staff member in 2019. A report was made to Thames Valley police last month.

The Huntercombe Group is now facing legal claims from nine patients, dating back as far as 2003, who were treated at the Maidenhead hospital, now called Taplow Manor, in Berkshire. Allegations include using sedative medication as a form of control, excessive restraint, and inappropriate force used in relation to tube feeding. There are also further allegations of sexual abuse.

What concerns me isn’t just the hospital itself, but why nothing was done by some of the other agencies

Mark McGhee, of Hutcheon Law, which is representing the patients, said: “With a number of clients. We have allegations of grooming and inappropriate touching, in relation to when restraint was being applied by males because all of the clients are female.

“It’s systemic. It’s over a very long period of time and what concerns me isn’t just the hospital itself, but why nothing was done by some of the other agencies who were supposed to be monitoring what was going on. Why nothing was done to try to prevent some of this.

Have you been affected by these issues? Contact rebecca.thomas@independent.co.uk

“The clients feel very let down by the bodies that placed their children at this hospital. They feel as though they didn’t properly monitor or supervise what was going on. We know that they have relatively recently been discussions and reviews with CQC with NHS England and others. Yet, despite all of that, the families have not been able to see or being provided with any action plan or what’s been going on.”

The Department for Health and Social Care said the fresh allegations were “deeply concerning” but could not confirm any action in response.

Rosena Allin-Khan, Labour’s shadow mental health secretary, is calling for a national review of mental health services. She said the allegations against The Huntercombe Group “demonstrate the extent of the crisis at the heart of inpatient mental health units”.

Questions over inspections

The Independent has seen multiple emails from parents sent to the CQC, local NHS trusts and NHS England, between 2018 and 2022, raising concerns about children’s care at the Maidenhead hospital, to which families say they received no response.

In one email to the CQC, while an inspection was being carried out in June 2019, a parent warned her daughter had been able to tie a ligature multiple times when staff were supposed to be watching her, but said her child did not feet comfortable raising her concerns over safeguarding directly to inspectors in front of other patients. The mother received no response, and the unit was rated “good” by the watchdog.

Taplow Manor and Ivetsey Bank, near Stafford, have been inspected by the CQC 11 times since 2014. Though these inspections are unannounced, multiple patients said staffing numbers had been temporarily increased ahead of the visits.

Mae, who was admitted to Stafford in 2018, said: “Everything would be made out to be a lot better care than it was during the inspections, staff would speak to us in much more humane and ‘nice’ way, positive quotes would be written on the whiteboard and medication would be at the correct times. Meal support would be increased despite none of this happening usually.

Mae was admitted to the Stafford unit in 2018 (Supplied)

A patient who was in the Maidenhead unit during an inspection in June this year, when its rating was upgraded from “inadequate” to “requires improvement”, said staff would cover damage on the walls with pictures and bring in new furniture.

Although both hospitals were rated “good” until 2018, allegations from 14 patients date from before that point.

The CQC told The Independent it would be carrying out a review of the group’s leadership and organisation operations in March, in response to the allegations of poor care. The regulator said that, while it did not directly respond to all complaints, it took them into account for inspection findings.

Our investigation last month revealed that the CQC had received more than 700 whistleblowing and safeguarding reports over Huntercombe units, including several “sexual safety” concerns.

Chris Dzikiti, director of mental health at the regulator, said: “It is unacceptable for any young person who needs mental health support to receive anything less than the highest standards of care.” He said the CQC was grateful to those who did get in touch over their care to give “vital” feedback.

The families left feeling helpless

Parents said they had been pushed from “pillar to post” when raising concerns to NHS commissioners, often being redirected to the management of The Huntercombe Group. In one email seen by The Independent, parents raised concerns to their local NHS trust about overuse of injected sedatives as a form of chemical restraint. The parents say it was not followed up.

They just told me that the more I resisted, the harder they would do it

Another emailed NHS England’s complaint lines directly but said they had received no response. The mother also raised a series of written concerns with the NHS trust who had sent her daughter to Maidenhead. She said: “We felt helpless, alone, like our voices just fell into a dark well, scared, desperate. We just wanted our daughter to come home and be safe. We wanted her to get better and to have some kind of treatment that would help her get better. There seemed to be no answers.”

Nikki Broughton Smith, whose daughter Amber was a patient in 2019, said: “It’s very clear that no one wanted to take responsibility.

“As far as NHS England are concerned, we didn’t even know they existed until a year into the treatment and then we made it clear on multiple occasions, verbally and on the email [and] they made no attempt to contact us.”

Since 2015-16, the NHS has paid nearly £190m to Huntercombe to admit children to its mental health beds.

Following our investigation, NHS England said it had set up “enhanced” monitoring of Huntercombe’s units. An NHS spokesperson said: “The NHS is deeply concerned with these shocking allegations. Consequently these two units, which are run by Active Care Group, have been visited several times by senior commissioners in recent weeks.”

Girls stripped by male staff

Among the dozens of patient reports uncovered by our investigation are allegations of young women being stripped by male staff. Ami, who was a patient at Maidenhead in 2020, said: “They didn’t even make sure there were female staff in the room when they took off my clothes in restraint down to my underwear. There was a male member of staff in the room and they took off my bra and pants and put me into anti-ligature clothing.”

At one point she said she was not allowed to leave her room for six weeks.

Another young girl said: “During one restraint, there were five males and one female nurse in my room and the male staff members had to undo the button and zip on my jeans then pull my trousers down with the female staff just watching.”

I was then left in my bedroom because I was told I was being dramatic

Maddie, who was in Maidenhead in 2003, told The Independent she had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder she believed was linked to her experiences at the hospital. She said: “It was a living hell, literally. I would actually rather have been dead than live as I did in that place. When my parents signed a consent form for tube feeding on admission, they did not know this would include force-feeding with heavy restraint.

“They would forcibly give me even more sedating drugs when I already could barely stay awake. The men would also sometimes whack me against the wall, standing up and hit my bones on the skirting boards and I would scream in pain, but they just told me that the more I resisted, the harder they would do it.”

Former patient Rhianna Denver (Rhianna Denver)

Layla, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, was a patient at Ivetsey Bank in 2018. She said she suffered pneumonia after staff restrained her to be tube-fed and the tube went into her lung, leaving her almost unconscious. “I was then left in my bedroom because I was told I was being dramatic,” she said. Eventually an ambulance was called by another patient.

Hutcheon Law is also calling on the NHS and councils to give “aftercare” to former patients who have claims of PTSD and trauma from their time in hospital. Rhianna Denver, a patient at Maidenhead in 2016, said she believed she suffers PTSD, flashbacks and mental health problems after her stay in the unit, adding: “People do not understand what happens when you are inside.”

Huntercombe’s owners Active Care Group said: “We are very sad and concerned to hear about these patient experiences and allegations of poor care, a handful of which relate to time in our care. All our professionals are trained, registered, and regulated by their professional bodies; our policies and clinical interventions are in line with national guidelines and best practice; the care of our patients is our top priority.”

It said CQC visits were always unannounced, wards were “continuously” redecorated, and all complaints were investigated at the threshold required by the CQC, adding: “We are also pleased to receive positive feedback from many young people and their families.”

Elli Investments Group, owners of the Huntercombe Group until March 2021, said: “We are saddened by these allegations and regret that these hospitals and specialist care services, which were owned and independently managed by The Huntercombe Group, failed to meet the expected standards for high-quality care.”