Police have arrested three female NHS workers over allegations that they assaulted vulnerable and frail elderly patients on a hospital ward.
The arrests came after student nurses reported concerns that a number of patients were being abused physically and verbally on a ward at Whipps Cross University Hospital in East London.
The women, all healthcare assistants employed to carry out basic feeding and washing duties, have been suspended by the hospital and barred from working anywhere in the NHS while an urgent investigation is conducted by police and hospital bosses.
Beech Ward, which usually houses about 20 female patients, has been closed as a result of the allegations.
It treats ill and elderly patients suffering from dementia and recovering from operations, strokes and falls.
It is not known how many of the patients have been affected by the alleged abuse. Last night, the daughter of a 91-year-old woman who spent time on the ward earlier this year after a fall described her treatment as ‘cruel’.
Senior managers at the hospital, which is governed by Barts Health NHS Trust, have interviewed 69 patients treated there over an eight-week period between February and April this year to establish the extent of any reported misconduct.
The hospital has refused to disclose further details of the allegations and a spokesman said it had so far not found any evidence of harm to patients.
But the police this week passed a file to the Crown Prosecution Service, which will decide whether formal criminal charges can be brought.
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call me a scynic but they allowed the abiuse to happen so that they could close the ward – otherwise the nurses would have been removed and disaplined!
You could have a point there hon, i just dont get how so many people are actually abusing the frail and vunerable?
I mean a rogue abuser is going to slip the net but 3 alledged abusers, thats just sickening.
We hear more and more of this kind of abuse happening but nothing is done to prevent it long term,
i mean we have cameras in shops to prevent theft, we have cameras on streets to catch criminals but none in care homes and hospitals to protect the vunerable when we know so much abuse goes on.
The dummy cameras are effective and would save millions of cash, no staff need know which cameras are real and which are not, just know that cameras are being installed would prevent abuse, its not brain science yet gov just dont care.
wont belong it be my turn .but they cut so much from the budget to run hospital its thedecent ones they lose only for the bad ones then to enter ,but for three its unbeleavible whot where the rest doing wernt they trying to stop this abuse of patients as we all get old ,would not they like to be abused this way when they get to this age no lets go back to the old way of looking after not abusing them jeff3