Ten held after patients ‘taunted and pinned down by their carers’

CAUGHT ON FILM, VILE BOASTS BY STAFF

‘Psychological torture’ as soon as she starts screaming I just want to*******killher ******clotheslinedher once. She ******* hit the decklikeabagofs*** Head first,b am ... you seeabiglumponthe backofhishead

TEN carers have been arrested over the alleged abuse of patients with learning difficulties at an NHS-funded hospital.

Earlier this week, shocking footage revealed vulnerable adults being taunted and restrained at Whorlton Hall in County Durham.

One man was pinned to the ground for nearly ten minutes by a male carer while other members of staff watched on and chewed gum. In another appalling incident, two male employees were seen taunting a distressed woman by threatening to summon men to her room if she didn’t keep quiet.

The footage was filmed by an undercover reporter for a BBC Panorama documentary, which was screened on Wednesday night. Several workers admitted to the reporter that they had deliberately hurt patients. An employee wearing a light purple shirt said: ‘As soon as she starts screaming I just want to ******* kill her’, and another staff member described a resident being ‘ clotheslined’. This is when one person knocks another to the ground by sticking an arm out at their neck height, making contact while they are moving forwards. A third described how he purposefully injured the back of a resident’s head.

Yesterday, Durham Police said they had arrested seven men and three women in connection with the events.

Since the documentary was broadcast it has emerged that the hospital had been visited at least 100 times by official agencies over the previous year.

Council workers, NHS staff and inspectors from the Care Quality Commission all attended the premises on numerous occasions but failed to detect any abuse. In fact the CQC – the official care watchdog – rated the hospital as ‘good’ in 2017 and praised the staff for their kindness.

Whorlton Hall hospital is NHS funded but privately run, and looks after a dozen adults with learning difficulties. They have been transferred to other centres.

The footage also shows a staff member calling a resident a ‘fat ****’, while a colleague called the hospital a ‘house of mongs’.

Several patients were physically restrained by workers – even though this is meant to be a last resort. The revelations have prompted concerns that very little has changed since the Winterbourne View scandal of 2011.

There, in a private hospital on the outskirts of Bristol, staff were filmed dragging, punching and slapping adults with learning difficulties. Six employees were jailed and then-prime minister David Cameron promised that such abuse would never be repeated.

Professor Glynis Murphy, a clinical psychology and disability specialist at the University of Kent described the abuse at Whorlton Hall as ‘psychological torture’.

Richard Kramer, chief executive of disability charity Sense, criticised the approach taken by the different agencies who had visited the hospital. Care Minister Caroline Dinenage told the House of Commons on Thursday she was ‘deeply sorry’ it happened.

Cygnet, which manages the hospital, said it was ‘shocked’ by the allegations. Durham Police said the ‘immediate priority’ has been to safeguard the victims. It said those arrested would be released under investigation.