‘I felt like they were giving me up’: 30 new patients in the Huntercombe group tell their stories of life in mental health units | UK News

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Thirty new patients contacted Sky News after our investigation of adolescent treatment in mental health units run by a single carer.

Among them is a 16-year-old boy whose mother told us her son’s self-harm had increased.

“He looked like he had been in a car accident,” Rachel Vickers said of her son Tyson, and Tyson-Vickers added, “It felt like they gave up on me.”

In October, Sky News revealed serious allegations of failure of care from more than two dozen former patients at units run by Huntercombe Group, now part of the Active Care Group.

Content warning: This article contains references to self-harm

Since then, dozens of former patients have contacted us independently of each other.

They made more allegations about concerns such as excessive use of restraint and inadequate supervision, which leave patients at increased risk of self-harm.

In response to our joint investigation with The Independent, the Department of Health called the additional allegations of ill-treatment “extremely concerning”.

Sixteen-year-old Tyson Vickers is one of a group of new patients who came forward in response to our initial investigation.

Photo: Sixteen-year-old Tyson Vickers is one of a group of new patients who have come forward in response to our initial investigation

He has spent two months in the Maidenhead unit from the start of March this year – he says that during his time there he felt “like a lost cause in the mental health system”.

Tyson told us he went to the unit because “I couldn’t keep my peace.” But he says he did not receive the specialist intervention he had expected.

His mum Rachel said: ‘I could see he was getting worse. We saw more self-harm – erratic behavior that led him to needing self-control, which we didn’t have to do at home. It seemed to me he wasn’t being taken care of.’

“He had cuts on his arms. His arms were bandaged. He had a huge black eye. I mean, he looked like he had been in a car accident.”

Read more: Calls for ‘rapid’ review of inpatient mental health care after Sky News investigation

Tyson is autistic and transgender. It is not easy to talk about his time in the unit. He said he would require employees to “refer to me as male and as Tyson with the pronouns ‘he'”.

“But sometimes they were just wrong, and you could tell they didn’t actually respect that.”

Tyson says he gets “flashbacks” from his experiences. He says “just thinking about everything I went through there” makes him cry when discussing it.

Tyson says, “I was struggling so much.

Image: Blood on the walls of one of the bedrooms at a facility run by the Hintercombe Group

“One employee told me I would never get out, that I would be stuck in there forever and couldn’t get help.”

Our original investigation uncovered allegations dating back more than a decade.

There were recurring themes such as over-restraint and under-staffing and monitoring to keep patients safe.

The 30 new patients who have come forward have been inpatients on the units since 2003 – most were admitted from 2018.

They all communicated with us independently of each other.

A patient who wishes to remain anonymous, who was on the Maidenhead unit between 2018 and 2019, told us she is now unable to live independently, which she believes is due to trauma from her experience.

This is how she describes her life now after her time in the unit: “I have pretty much daily seizures, walking difficulties, tics and more.

“My mom is my full time caregiver because I can’t be on my own because of this. I can’t live independently.”

Another patient, who also requested anonymity and was admitted to the Maidenhead unit in 2020, shared pictures of injuries to her legs and knuckles, which she says she sustained while restraints.

Image: Another patient, who asked not to be identified, was admitted to the Maidenhead unit in 2020. Who says she was subjected to restrictions

She said: “Sometimes when they were trying to catch me in the holds they would swing me so hard and I would fall into the wall until I bruised my fingers.

“Every day I got bruises all over my body.”

Another patient shared pictures that she says are blood on the walls of her room. She told us she was left alone for “hours” to self-harm.

In 2019 May, aged 21, was a patient on the Stafford unit in Huntercombe.

“I will not be asked to go to the clinic for food,” she said, “I will be picked up and dragged there.”

PHOTO: In 2019 May, aged 21, was a patient on the Stafford unit in Huntercombe

Mai describes feeling like an “animal” in the unit and claims she was “dragged and locked out of my room, bruised and constantly yelled at and verbally abused.

“I didn’t have autonomy or say in my care or my body,” she said.

Ami was on the Maidenhead unit between April 2020 and December 2021.

The 18-year-old says she was not allowed out of her room for six weeks after a bout of self-harm.

She said that when her underwear was removed so she could be worn in the anti-garter garment, there was a male staff member in the room.

She said, “I was embarrassed and I felt attacked. I really crossed all my limits.”

“We felt helpless, alone, like our voices had fallen into a dark well, afraid, desperate,” Amy’s mother, Rebecca Hinton, told us.

Separately from our investigation, we have learned that attorney Mark McGhee has taken the first steps toward legal action against the Huntercombe Group. He currently represents nine former patients.

His cases include the family of a young former patient who claims to have been raped by a staff member of the Maidenhead unit.

Thames Valley Police confirmed they were investigating the allegations.

Photo: Mum was on the Maidenhead unit between April 2020 and December 2021. Now 18, she says she was not allowed out of her room for six weeks after she had an incident of self-harm.

“This is a systemic failure and flagrant systemic neglect,” said Mr. McGee. “This hospital has been responsible for some of the most vulnerable individuals in our society.”

“All of these individuals are deeply affected in terms of the abuse they have experienced. It will affect the rest of their lives.”

Huntercombe has been acquired by Active Care Group in December 2021.

A spokesperson for the Active Care Group said: “We are saddened and deeply concerned to hear about these patient experiences and allegations of poor care, a handful of which relate to the time spent in our care… Our policies and clinical interventions are aligned with national guidelines and best practices; the care of our patients is our highest priority.”

“All complaints are investigated and those who meet the CQC (Care Quality Commission) and safeguarding thresholds are reported as required. We are also pleased to have received positive feedback from so many young people and their families.”

Read more ‘Blood on the walls’: Investigation reveals shocking truth behind children’s mental health unit ‘He was treated worse than animals’: Huntercombe inquest reveals decade of abuse

“We are saddened by these allegations and regret that these hospitals and specialist care services, which were independently owned and operated by The Huntercombe Group, have failed to meet the expected standards of high-quality care,” said the former owners of Elli Investments Group.

NHS England said it was deeply concerned about these “appalling allegations”.

A company spokesperson said: “Accordingly, these two units run by the Active Care Group have been visited several times by senior commissioners in recent weeks – these visits have included speaking to all existing patients, and we will continue to monitor and take appropriate action where necessary.”

“The NHS has made it clear repeatedly in recent meetings of executives of the Active Care Group that all services must provide safe, high-quality care and meet the obligations in their contracts.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “The other allegations of abuse that have been raised are of deep concern. Our first priority is to ensure that anyone receiving treatment in a mental health facility receives safe, high-quality care, and is looked after with dignity and respect.

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“We take these reports very seriously and are working with NHS England and the CQC to ensure all inpatient mental health facilities provide the standard of care we expect.”

Chris Dzichetti, Director of Mental Health at the Care Quality Commission (CQC), said: “It is unacceptable for any young person who needs mental health support to receive anything less than the highest standards of care.

“We are grateful to everyone who took the time to share their experience, or that of their loved ones, in the care they received.

“We have a range of powers that we can use if we find people who are not receiving safe care and we will take every measure possible to protect people where necessary.”

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