Children came to “significant” harm due to chronically low staffing levels at scandal-hit mental health hospitals, whistleblowers have claimed for the first time.

In a third expose into allegations of poor care at private hospitals run by The Huntercombe Group, former employees have claimed that staffing levels were so low “every day” that patients were neglected resulting in:

• children self-harming because there weren’t enough staff to monitor
• girls continually being force-fed while restrained
• patients left to wet themselves because staff couldn’t supervise toilet visits

One staff member Rebecca Smith said she was left in tears after having to restrain and force-feed a patient.

“I remember the first time in 2021 when I had to help with one of these restraints and I left the room and cried as soon as it finished. It was horrific for me so I can’t even imagine what it was like for the patient,” she said.

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Their accounts come as The Independent can reveal that the organisation is now facing dozens of clinical negligence claims and potential group action.

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Following a series of investigations by The Independent and Sky News, 50 patients came forward with allegations of “systemic abuse” and poor care, spanning two decades at the children’s mental health hospitals run by the organisation.

The government has since launched a “rapid review” into inpatient mental health units across the...

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