Rampton Special Hospital (Hansard, 23 May 1979)

§ Mr. Patrick Jenkin

As I announced in my statement on 21 May, the full text of which is as follows, I have referred the matter of the allegations of ill treatment to the Director of Public Prosecutions and a full investigation is to be carried out by the police. I also intend to arrange for a thorough review of the124W organisation and facilities at the hospital and I shall make a further statement on this as soon as possible.

Statement issued on 21 May 1979: Yorkshire TV has made a film about Rampton hospital, Nottinghamshire—one of the four special hospitals run by the Department for persons detained under the Mental Health Act, who in the opinion of the Secretary of State, 'requires treatment under conditions of special security on account of their dangerous, violent or criminal propensities'. The Department, after consulting local management and staff, was unable to agree to requests to film inside the hospital last year but have provided information about it to the TV Company. During the course of discussions between Yorkshire TV and the Department, requests were made to the TV Company for the Department to see filmed evidence which they had obtained. On 15 May, information about the film received considerable publicity. It appeared that the film contained allegations of ill-treatment of patients by staff. I therefore asked that I and senior officers from my Department should see the film; and this was arranged on 17 May. The film does indeed contain a large number of serious allegations of ill-treatment of patients. The matters referred to in the film cover many years, during which there have been changes in the staffing, in the treatment programmers and methods as well as in the physical facilities at the hospital. It is not possible to be sure from the evidence of the film when many of the alleged offences are supposed to have taken place or which of them have already been investigated. It is essential that these allegations, many of which—if proved—would involve criminal assault, should be investigated and, if it is found appropriate, brought before the courts and determined in accordance with the law. I have no doubt that this is essential, not only in the interests of patients but, since are the accusations receiving widespread publicity, in the interests of the staff of special hospitals as a whole. I therefore referred the matter to the Director of Public Prosecutions on Friday and he has already arranged for a full investigation to be carried out by the police. Yorkshire TV has agreed, at my request, to make available all the evidence it has collected, so far as it can be done without breaching the confidentiality required by some of its informants. It will, of course, be for the Director of Public Prosecutions to decide in the light of the police report, whether any prosecution would be appropriate. My Department will, of course, co-operate in every way to provide the police and the Director with any other information they may need. I have also concluded that in the light of the allegations, it is essential to institute a thorough review of the organisation and facilities at Rampton hospital, including the monitoring of standards of care given, the procedure for dealing with complaints, and the links which the hospital has with the outside world. 125W This review must take fully into account the essential task of the special hospitals to provide both treatment and security for the specially difficult patients with whom they deal. Representatives of the staff and management at Rampton have told me that they would welcome a review of this sort. It is of course, essential that any such review should be so conducted as not to prejudice the police inquiries or the fairness and effectiveness of any proceedings which might result from them. I am, therefore, consulting urgently with the Director of Public Prosecutions as to its timing and scope as well as the way in which it should be carried out and I shall make a further statement on this as soon as possible. I am very conscious of the distress these allegations will have caused to the patients in the special hospitals, to their relatives and to the staff of the hospitals. It is important we should recognise the good work that is done by staff—under very difficult and often dangerous circumstances with patients, many of whom, may behave violently—which results in over 200 patients being discharged or transferred from the special hospitals each year as a result of improvement in their condition. I am sure that it is in the interests of both patients and staff that any allegations of brutality should be properly investigated. That will be done by the police. I am equally anxious that they should be seen against the background of the vast amount of good work that is done by Rampton and the other special hospitals. That work must continue and we must ensure that it is helped forward and strengthened by what we now do.