Police investigating video of NHS staff allegedly assaulting elderly patient with Alzheimer’s

A police investigation has been launched into an alleged assault against an elderly patient with Alzheimer’s by NHS staff at the troubled East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust.

The Independent can reveal nurses and carers at the William Harvey Hospital have been suspended after being filmed by hospital security staff for eight minutes allegedly holding down the man’s arms and legs as well as his face while they inserted a catheter.

The trust has confirmed it has launched an investigation and alerted police after the incident on 15 December on the Cambridge J ward at the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford. A spokesperson “apologised unreservedly” for the incident and said it was being treated with the “utmost seriousness”.

A whistleblower spoke out to The Independent about the incident, fearing it was being covered up by the trust after staff were told “don’t discuss it, don’t refer to it at all”.

The senior clinician said they had decided to go public after the “horrific” incident because of the trust’s toxic culture and concerns for the welfare of other patients on wards.

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Source: The Independent, 7 February 2020