NHS sends vulnerable adults to private hospital accused of abuse
Vulnerable adult patients have been sent by the NHS to a private hospital after it closed its children’s service just weeks ago following abuse allegations, The Independent can reveal.
Joyce Parker Hospital in Coventry, run by private hospital giant Cygnet Health Care, was accused by Care Quality Commission of failing to protect child patients from physical abuse by staff, following an inspection this summer.
A letter leaked to The Independent revealed inspectors saw CCTV evidence of staff “dragging” children around while restrained.
Cygnet Health Care, on which the NHS spends hundreds of millions of pounds for mental health beds, closed its children’s service in September following the allegations.
Weeks later the service reopened as a service for male adults and The Independent can reveal local NHS commissioners have already placed patients in the hospital, despite the previous abuse allegations.
Deborah Coles, chief executive for charity INQUEST, which has represented families of patients who’ve died in care, said: “This recycling of services, despite damning criticisms, is a loophole that needs to close.”
Source: The Independent, 31 October 2024