Coventry staff seen dragging patients in children’s hospital

Workers in a kids’s hospital had been caught on CCTV footage abusing sufferers by dragging them, in accordance with a well being watchdog’s report.

Care High quality Fee (CQC) inspectors discovered three circumstances the place kids had been bodily abused by employees at Cygnet Joyce Parker Hospital in Coventry.

The report mentioned kids instructed inspectors employees “generally bent their wrist” or damage them by “twisting their knee”.

The hospital mentioned it continued to “strongly refute” any allegations of abuse and police had ended an investigation into safeguarding circumstances. The BBC has contacted West Midlands Police for remark.

The hospital, run by Cygnet Well being Care Restricted, has modified its use for the reason that inspection and now solely gives providers to grownup male sufferers.

The report, after a CQC go to to the 43-bed psychological well being unit in July, mentioned inspectors reviewed CCTV footage for 3 circumstances of restraint the place kids had been bodily abused by employees.

“Workers had been noticed dragging kids and younger individuals throughout these incidents,” they mentioned.

“For all three incidents reviewed, there was no obvious danger requiring restraint offered by the younger individual.”

They added there was no proof of employees attempting to de-escalate the scenario earlier than restraining the kids.

The report mentioned footage recognized 12 members of employees as “passive bystanders” who didn’t elevate issues.

4 out of seven kids they spoke to mentioned they “didn’t really feel protected on the service”.

In September, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the choice to shut the kids’s service was the “proper one” and referred to as abuse allegations on the unit “really surprising”.

On the time, the hospital acknowledged “inappropriate use of restraint throughout very troublesome circumstances”.

The CQC mentioned three warning notices had been despatched to the hospital for failing to fulfill laws regarding abuse throughout circumstances of restraint.

Regardless of its change of use, the CQC mentioned the hospital was nonetheless registered as in a position to present psychological well being providers to kids and adolescents.

The hospital stays rated as “requires enchancment”.

A press release from the hospital mentioned it continued to “strongly refute any allegations of abuse”.

“We’ll proceed to work transparently to reveal our dedication to sustaining excessive requirements of care and sit up for the publication of the latest CQC inspection, which occurred in October 2024,” a spokesperson mentioned.

The hospital mentioned police and native safeguarding authorities closed their investigations into a variety of safeguarding incidents and that no additional motion can be taken by the organisations.