Independent - ‘My time in a children’s mental health hospital left me with PTSD’ (27 October 2022)

Summary

The Department for Health and Social Care has launched an investigation into allegations made by 22 former patients of mental health units run by private firm The Huntercombe Group. The group ran at least six children’s mental health hospitals between 2012 and 2022. In this Independent article, young women who were subject to humiliating and sometimes abusive treatment talk about their time as inpatients. Some of the experiences they recount are harrowing:

"I would get awoken by staff members restraining me out of bed and dragging me down to the de-escalation room to force-feed me."

"Patients were left naked in their rooms under anti-ligature blankets because they wouldn’t buy anti-ligature clothing."

"I distinctly remember someone saying ‘if you hit me again, I’ll hit you back ten times harder because there are no cameras in here and you can’t cry to [name of nurse] about it’."