‘Systemic Abuse’: How British Mental Hospitals Are Violating the Rights of Teenage Girls
Abused, humiliated, and isolated for weeks, The Independent and Sky News joint investigation revealed a shocking situation of patients put at risk of "a toxic culture" at some of the UK's biggest mental health hospitals. Young women complained about being treated as "animals," using restraint inappropriately, and enduring long seclusions in small rooms. This "systemic abuse" pushed the UK Department of Health and Social Care to launch an investigation into the allegations of 22 young women who were patients in units of the Huntercombe Group, which manages at least six children's mental health hospitals, from 2012 up to now.
However, despite a seven-year series of reports and complaints to police and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) asserting that health units were inadequate, the NHS has continued to give the Huntercombe Group around £190 million ($219 million) since the 2015-16 financial year to receive children for treatment.
'A Toxic Culture'
An investigation by The Independent and Sky News about patient care in some famous UK mental hospitals revealed a miserable situation of young women saying they were treated as "animals" and their traumatic suffering was neglected over a decade of "systemic abuse" practiced by a group of the medical personnel there.
The girls said they suffered a lot from the treatment methods adopted in those hospitals, including being "painfully tied" for long hours by male nurses, in addition to being prevented from going out for months and being placed inside wards stained with blood.
Many patients claimed they had to take a huge amount of narcotic drugs that made them look like "zombies,” in addition to being force-fed.
The investigations uncovered scandalous practices of the medical staff like "swearing at patients, taunting and mocking them in vulnerable situations—such as when they were undressing—and joking about their self-harm."
The patients, who needed exceptional care and attention, were subject to more horrible practices like being unnecessarily restrained, slapped, or pinched by staff on some occasions
Male patients also complained about some female staff acting in a sexualized way towards them, in addition to falsifying records of the patient observations, which is a crucial safety measure.
At least two children died in the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Units operated by the Huntercombe Group, between 2008 and 2017, according to the investigation team reports.
In 2017, the health service group closed a unit at Torquay Hospital where it was discovered that a staff member had tried to manipulate a patient's feelings in preparation for an attempted sexual assault (known as sexual grooming behaviors that the abuser uses to reach a potential victim to reduce the risk of arrest). The report referred to cases of sexual abuse of three patients inside Watcombe Hall Hospital.
In the same year, staff found Mia Titheridge dead inside Huntercombe Hospital in Norfolk, which has since been closed. One investigator found that staff did not check Mia's condition every 15 minutes as instructed, and she was left alone for 57 minutes.
Danae Rackliff, one of the patients in Staffordshire Hospital in 2017, showed investigators several pictures of workers sleeping outside her room while they were supposed to stay awake to supervise her, according to her testimony.
What After?
The Health Care Quality Control Commission received more than 700 reports of health and personal safety, including reports of "incidents of concern" and a number of "sexual safety" concerns.
NHS England has been notified of 195 patient safety reports in 2020 and 2021.
An internal report in 2018 at the Meadow Lodge hospital in Newton Abbot (now closed) found that staff were using obscene and inappropriate sexual expressions in front of patients. The police investigated 160 reports relating to Huntercombe Staffordshire Hospital between 2015 and 2022.
Between March 2021 and the current year 2022, the Health Care Quality Control Commission did not grant permission for 29 patients to enter Maidenhead hospital until subjecting it to accountability and some special measures.
Anne Longfield, the former commissioner for children's care who leads an NHS team that looks after patients who are admitted to hospitals, expressed her grave concern about the investigation's revelations, calling for an urgent re-audit of Maidenhead Hospital units, now known as Taplow Manor and Staffordshire Hospital, which is now known as Ivetsey Bank Hospital.
Longfield said that she was really appalled when she heard the testimonies of the young women and their families as well. She was very saddened by what she heard because what happened had a clear impact on their lives, not only in the previous phase during which they were patients in one of those hospitals but also in the current phase. According to her, the patients and their families have the right to know what happened as soon as possible, and they should receive reassurances from the HealthCare Quality Control Committee about the current developments in this situation.
The Healthcare Quality Control Commission is also conducting a criminal investigation after police launched their investigation into the death of a young girl at Maidenhead Huntercombe Hospital in February.
On the other hand, the management of the former owner of the Huntercombe Group, now known as Eli Investments, said that they regretted the failure of the hospitals and specialized care services that were independently operated and owned by their group to meet the envisaged standards of high-quality care.
As for NHS England, it said it had made it clear "many times" that health services should provide safe, high-quality care, "regardless" of whether it was a government agency (NHS) or private.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare said that the allegations of abuse are of grave concern and the highest priority now is to ensure that all individuals undergoing treatment in mental health facilities receive safe, high-quality care and are treated with dignity and respect.
He concluded by saying that the ministry is taking these reports seriously, it is now working in cooperation with National Health Service England and Healthcare Quality Control Committee to ensure that all health facilities are providing high levels of care.
'I Did Not Want to Live Anymore'
All the 22 patients who spoke to The Independent described how they were treated by excessively restricting their freedom of movement by staff at Huntercombe Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) units.
Three internal reviews were carried out by the Huntercombe Group following complaints from patients between 2020 and 2021, one of which found that a young female patient had been subjected to "repeated physical restraint" that was considered "forced,” and was used as a method preferred to treat this condition according to what is known as a First-Line Intervention.
The review also found that restriction of patients' freedom was used as an "automatic" response in dealing with challenging behaviors.
Amber Rehman was diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) following her stint at Huntercombe Maidenhead Hospital. The young woman, who was placed in the PICU, describes how five staff members grabbed her and force-fed her by inserting a tube in her nose. She said she was telling them she was about to vomit, but they did not listen. Even when she did so, the tube "would come out of my mouth...But they would put it back in and try to force-feed me over and over again...I felt like I was about to die."
The girl said when she was in the hospital, she couldn't get out, and she even thought of putting an end to her life.
Amber's mother, Nikki Boughton-Smith, has expressed her concerns about the hospital and the Healthcare Quality Control Commission, as well as about NHS England and her constituency. She said that her daughter did not get the support she needed, and all kinds of autonomy, freedom, and all the different ways that would empower the patients and their families were eliminated.
