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| ‘Illegal hard
drugs are being smuggled into new hospital’ |
Patient’s mother complains
cannabis and crack-cocaine available at clinic
Hard drugs are being smuggled into a newly opened mental health
hospital unit in Highgate, it was claimed this week, due to a design
fault to the internal doors.
The allegation, that drugs, including cannabis, skunk (super strength
cannabis) and crack-cocaine, are being brought onto the wards was
made by a parent of a patient from Islington.
It follows the official opening of the centre – which replaces
the Waterlow Unit in Dartmouth Park Hill – by Health Secretary
Patricia Hewitt last week.
The woman, who has asked not to be named, complains that a design
fault in the magnetic locking system on the internal ward doors
allows patients to walk in and out of the Highgate Mental Health
Centre at will.
Many of the patients are a potential danger to themselves and are
not allowed out without an escort.
This week the Camden and Islington Mental Care Trust admitted there
was a problem with the doors but engineers were hoping to rectify
the problem.
The woman claims that the hospital doors “open easily with
a kick” and patients can, and do, run off the ward at will,
including those who have been put on a security section for safety.
“This is a very serious problem and I know various drugs are
coming on to the ward because of it,” she said.
She added that ward staff and doctors do their best to prevent patients
absconding and bringing drugs back on to the ward.
“But their efforts to control things are undermined by the
failure of the locking system,” she said.
This makes it impossible for them to safely contain patients and
provide a safe environment on the ward, she claims.
She said: “It has also resulted in a great deal of police and
staff time needlessly spent on absconding patients.”
She added that, meanwhile, her son is “deteriorating in the
situation, which to me is already a tragic consequence.”
The woman said that the hospital opened for patients more than a
year ago and despite complaints the management has still not dealt
with the door problem.
She said: “This is a clear failure in their duty of care and
they urgently need to do something about this appalling situation
before there is a tragic incident. “
A spokeswoman for the Camden and Islington Mental Care Trust said:
“We acknowledge that there has been some problems experienced
with the doors on the wards of Highgate Mental Health Centre.
“Our Estates and Facilities department is addressing this.
The Centre is well designed, and to exit, everyone has to pass through
the main reception.
“The staff know the patients, and there is a mechanism for
closing the front doors if a patient is not entitled to leave the
centre. The Highgate Mental Health Centre is not a high security
hospital. We also have a specific ‘Awol’ (Absent Without
Leave) policy, which has been developed in conjunction with the
police.
“There has been a great deal of work done locally around the
issue of substances in in-patient areas. We have elicited views
from a wide range of people and are taking action in response to
this.” |
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