Children's hospital forced to close may reopen due to legal loophole

A scandal-hit children’s mental health hospital set to close after an investigation uncovered allegations of severe abuse could reopen within months due to a legal loophole, it can be revealed.

Taplow Manor hospital, in Maidenhead, will shut in May after the Independent exposed claims of “systemic abuse” and poor care from more than 50 former patients. Police are currently carrying out two investigations into the hospital–one into a patient death and a second into the alleged rape of a child involving staff.

Active Care Group, which runs the hospital, announced last week that would close but in letters sent to staff since then, it said it was looking to retrain them with plans to “reopen as an adult acute service” in a matter of months. A loophole in the regulations means that there is nothing to stop healthcare providers from applying to the watchdog, the Care Quality Commission, to reopen, even if serious concerns have been raised about the closed operation.

Read full story

Source: Independent, 4 April 2023