Troubled mental health hospital worse - patients

Former inpatients of a troubled Black Country mental health service have said the situation is getting worse.

Wil Vincent, who runs a peer support group, was attacked during his last admission to Bushey Fields Hospital in Dudley.

The Black Country Healthcare Trust is known to have a significant morale problem and the results of another poor staff survey are expected to be announced.

The trust said it had upheld some of the concerns raised, and was investing heavily in recruitment as well as a £2.3m new ward that would improve the environment.

Mr Vincent, a university lecturer, spent three periods as an inpatient at the trust in 2023 and the latter part of 2024.

He raised concerns relating to a group of 10 patients.

After the attack, in which his head was cut open by another patient, shards of window glass were left for a week, he said, adding to safeguarding concerns.

He claimed drugs made their way on to wards through the fence and patients were "cheeking", or concealing medication in their mouth, to give it to others.

Some staff ignored patients who had to adopt a "knock, wait and hope approach" at the nurses' office door, he said, adding that patients were often "left to fester" with very little to do, particularly at weekends.

"There are some great nurses, there are some fantastic healthcare assistants, but this is all swept up in what I can only describe as a mess as to what Black Country Healthcare has become since my first admission in June 2023," he said.

Another patient, Andrew Potter, claimed that while supposedly being observed by staff because he was in crisis and a danger to himself, he stepped over staff asleep in the corridor.

"Every time I went to the toilet, they were just asleep in the corridor. You could just tiptoe past them," he said.

Their claims related to two wards at the hospital - Wrekin and Clent.

Mr Vincent said staff were often too scared to raise concerns with managers, including concerns for their safety.

The NHS trust said although it could not comment on individual cases, it accepted that it had partially upheld one complaint relating to the claims revealed to the BBC.

However, it said no formal complaint was received from Mr Potter.

It said it was committed to providing safe, high-quality care, was investing heavily in staff training and robustly monitoring the care provided.

The trust said it had also recruited heavily, significantly reducing its reliance on agency workers.

Regarding the staff survey, it added it was unable to comment until that was published.

All patients have been transferred from Wrekin Ward at Bushey Fields Hospital, to the £2.3m newly refurbished and redesigned Kinver Ward, also on the hospital site.

Wrekin ward remains vacant.

The Black Country Healthcare trust had already been told to improve its mental health inpatient services after safeguarding issues were raised following an inspection in February 2023.

Many of the issues highlighted at the time - lack of individual care, staff not having skills required and patients being discharged too soon - have also been been raised since by Mr Vincent.

The trust has also been subject to a vote of no confidence by consultants and a poor staff survey last year.

In a letter to staff, Chief Executive Marsha Foster identified areas where this year's staff survey also gave cause for concern, which were trust values and behaviours, accountability, leadership compassion and inclusion, managers' effectiveness and freedom to speak up.

"I know we need to do better," she wrote. "These latest results make that even clearer."

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