Children’s hospital where staff ‘dragged patients across floor’ to close as parents warn of ‘brutal’ treatment

A hospital where staff allegedly physically abused patients is set to close as parents come forward describing the “brutal” treatment of their children, The Independent can reveal.

Joyce Parker Hospital, a children’s mental health unit run by Cygnet Health Care in Coventry, will shut following allegations by the national care watchdog, first highlighted by The Independent, that staff were found dragging patients across the floor.

Parents of children who are in the unit, whose care is NHS-funded, have been told this week that Cygnet Health Care intends to shut and reopen the hospital for adults just weeks later.

“From day one, it’s been really brutal,” said the mother of a teenage girl still in the hospital. “She [daughter] was covered in bruises. She was really distressed. I keep thinking this is my child, who is really unwell, and you trust people will look after her. She’s been pushed against walls, had her arms put around the back, she’s been put on the floor. My daughter is so much worse than she was when she got there.”

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Source: The Independent, 18 September 2024