St Albans mental heath unit pays £2.5m damages to former patients
More than 60 former patients of a teen psychiatric unit have each been awarded a five-figure sum in damages totalling more than £2.5m.The settlement is for patients at Hill End Adolescent Unit in St Albans, Hertfordshire, who were subject to alleged sexual abuse or mistreatment during the late 1960s to early 1990s.Stan Burridge, 59, who was admitted twice aged 13, said: "The violence was for the sake of it."Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust, which now provides mental health services in the county, said it was "deeply sorry to those people who had such a traumatic and unacceptable experience".
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: "Apologies have been issued for the events at Hill End and we will do everything in our power to make sure other families do not suffer such an appalling breach of trust in the future."
Mr Burridge said he was forcibly sedated and "in my case there was a huge amount of sexual abuse".He spent almost 300 days at Hill End after being admitted twice - from May 1979 to September 1979 and from March to September 1980.He described his time there as "like some experiment".He recalled the staff members using physical violence if they felt the children were not being compliant.The claims have been settled under a compensation scheme launched in July last year by law firm Leigh Day on behalf of about 90 former patients.They were unlawfully sedated and/or subjected to physical or sexual abuse or mistreatment during the time they lived at the unit which was set up for young people aged under 16.It follows an investigation by Hertfordshire Police which concluded there was "insufficient evidence" to support any prosecution and no arrests were made.
Leigh Day partner Emma Jones, who has been working with clients from Hill End for more than seven years, said: "The claims are being settled, but not, at times without a further battle, for my already vulnerable clients."She added: "Despite Victoria Atkins, the then secretary of state for health and social care in her apology letter recognising how incredibly difficult it must be for my clients to have to relive their trauma, this is exactly what a number of them are being forced to do in order to justify what happened to them."
Mr Burridge said: "Only a few who worked at Hill End will remain working in the field, but I think it is safe to say that those who do, will have some seniority, and they can influence how care delivery methods are implemented, and that includes dangerous, abusive and damaging working practice."We need a concerted effort that challenges the official bodies and government to strengthen the policies and bring about sustainable change."He added that there should be more robust protections for whistleblowers.Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust said: "The legal process is ongoing and we are not aware of any outstanding claims that are waiting for the trust to respond."A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: "Every patient deserves to be treated with dignity, care and safety."
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