Staff 'dragged' patients in Coventry children's hospital, watchdog finds
It follows a Care Quality Commission inspection last year at the Cygnet Joyce Parker Hospital
Staff in a children's hospital were caught on CCTV footage abusing patients by dragging them, according to a health watchdog report.
A Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection in July last year found incidents where children were physically abused at the Cygnet Joyce Parker Hospital in Coventry.
The report said a child told inspectors that staff at the 43-bed mental health unit "sometimes bent their wrist", and another said they were hurt by staff "twisting their knee" on one occasion.
The hospital, which had four wards and was run by Cygnet Health Care Limited, has changed its use since the inspection and now only provides services to adult male patients.
The CQC report said: "We reviewed closed circuit television footage for three incidents of restraint where children and young people were physically abused by staff. Staff were observed dragging children and young people during these incidents.
"For all three incidents reviewed there was no apparent risk requiring restraint presented by the young person.
"There was no evidence of staff attempting de-escalation prior to restraining the children and young people. In one incident staff escalated the situation by refusing the young person access to their bedroom."
The report said footage of the incidents identified 12 members of staff as "passive bystanders" who did not raise concerns.
It also said that four out of seven children spoken to during the inspection said they "did not feel safe at the service".
Patients had raised concerns about agency staff who were "not kind and not skilled to support them when they were distressed", the report said.
It noted that there were "high levels" of agency staff at the hospital, and inspectors "were not assured that agency staff were competent, skilled and experienced to care for young people safely".
The CQC said three warning notices were sent to the hospital after the inspection in July for "failing to meet regulations relating to staff abuse of children and young people during incidents of restraint".
Despite its change of use, the CQC said the hospital is still registered to be able to provide mental health services to children and adolescents.
No new ratings for the hospital have been issued by the watchdog and it remains rated "requires improvement".
Health Secretary Wes Streeting responded to allegations of abuse at the mental health unit in September last year and called them "truly shocking".
He said the decision to close the children's service was the "right one".
The CQC said the report from the inspection had been delayed "due to a large-scale transformation programme" and "falls far short of what people using services and Cygnet should be able to expect".
A spokesperson for Cygnet Health Care said: "While we respect the importance of regulatory oversight, we are disappointed that the Care Quality Commission has taken over six months to publish this report into the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) provision, which we decided to stop providing at the hospital last year.
"We continue to strongly refute any allegations of abuse. The police and local safeguarding authorities have closed their investigations into a small number of safeguarding incidents that we reported to them last summer, and they concluded no further action will be taken.
"After careful consideration last September, we made the decision to change the services offered at Cygnet Joyce Parker Hospital and to discontinue our Child and Adolescent Mental Health provision at the site.
"We collaborated with the CQC and other partners, including NHS commissioners, during the transition of our service to adult care.
"We will continue to work transparently to demonstrate our commitment to maintaining high standards of care and look forward to the publication of the most recent CQC inspection, which took place in October 2024."
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