Staff seen dragging children in hospital - report

Staff in a children's hospital were caught on CCTV footage abusing patients by dragging them, according to a health watchdog's report.

Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspectors found three cases where children were physically abused by staff at Cygnet Joyce Parker Hospital in Coventry.

The report said children told inspectors staff "sometimes bent their wrist" or hurt them by "twisting their knee".

The hospital said it continued to "strongly refute" any allegations of abuse and police had ended an investigation into safeguarding cases. The BBC has contacted West Midlands Police for comment.

The hospital, run by Cygnet Health Care Limited, has changed its use since the inspection and now only provides services to adult male patients.

The report, after a CQC visit to the 43-bed mental health unit in July, said inspectors reviewed CCTV footage for three cases of restraint where children were physically abused by staff.

"Staff were observed dragging children and young people during these incidents," they said.

"For all three incidents reviewed, there was no apparent risk requiring restraint presented by the young person."

They added there was no evidence of staff trying to de-escalate the situation before restraining the children.

The report said footage identified 12 members of staff as "passive bystanders" who did not raise concerns.

Four out of seven children they spoke to said they "did not feel safe at the service".

In September, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the decision to close the children's service was the "right one" and called abuse allegations at the unit "truly shocking".

At the time, the hospital acknowledged "inappropriate use of restraint during very difficult circumstances".

The CQC said three warning notices were sent to the hospital for failing to meet regulations relating to abuse during cases of restraint.

Despite its change of use, the CQC said the hospital was still registered as able to provide mental health services to children and adolescents.

The hospital remains rated as "requires improvement".

A statement from the hospital said it continued to "strongly refute any allegations of abuse".

"We will continue to work transparently to demonstrate our commitment to maintaining high standards of care and look forward to the publication of the most recent CQC inspection, which took place in October 2024," a spokesperson said.

The hospital said police and local safeguarding authorities closed their investigations into a number of safeguarding incidents and that no further action would be taken by the organisations.