Mental Health: 'As soon as Jack fled, they washed their hands of him'

An investigation has been launched at a controversial mental health hospital after a patient was able to escape past guards – less than two weeks after a woman was raped in the same psychiatric unit.

The patient fled the hospital when a duty nurse was distracted by a fracas in the canteen. The escaped patient, who cannot be named to protect his identity, was allowed to flee unchallenged, claims his close friend Catherine Anderson.

Ms Anderson, 27, contacted The Independent on Sunday after our campaign to highlight the treatment of mentally ill patients in this country.

She also alleges illicit drug-taking is widespread at the John Conolly Psychiatric Unit in Southall, west London. The unit is already under investigation following the rape of a 60-year old female patient in her bed on one of the wards.

The latest allegations revolve around the events of 6 July, when Ms Anderson went to visit "Jack", her close friend and ex-partner of seven years.

Jack suffers from Bipolar Affective Disorder – often called manic depression. He was admitted to the hospital at the end of June after experiencing "a hypomanic phase".

"When we arrived [on 6 July], we found him in an agitated state," said Ms Anderson. "Earlier that day he had been put under Section to prevent him from trying to leave the hospital."

Ms Anderson, a theatrical agent, described a "disruption" in the canteen when another patient smashed a plate, wielding a shard of it, distracting the only nurse there.

Jack took advantage, said Ms Anderson, to "literally bolt" from the hospital.

"He ran through two sets of electronic doors, which were open, and past four security guards at the entrance to the wing," she claimed.

Jack managed to get out of the hospital grounds and vanished across London. Ms Anderson alleges her fears for Jack's safety were met with both apathy and rudeness from the hospital staff, accusing the ward's manager of "hostility" towards her.

"His apparent disinterest in Jack's whereabouts, lack of compassion in our distressed state, and increasingly threatening physical manner were intolerable and belied a total lack of care," she said.

The hospital called the police, but, alleges Ms Anderson, made no other discernible effort to trace the missing patient. Jack was eventually found by his parents three days later in Somerset.

"The minute that he left the hospital, the doctors and nurses just washed their hands of him," said Ms Anderson. "I guess it was just one less patient to care for."

While relieved that he is now safe, Ms Anderson claims that the whole episode is symptomatic of the "disgraceful" conditions at the unit, part of the West London Mental Health NHS Trust.

"The hospital is in a disgusting state of disrepair – it's filthy," she said. "The nurses lock themselves into a little room and don't get involved at all.

"There is open drug taking on site and I seriously doubt whether there is any rigorous monitoring of the taking of medication. It has to be a concern that this might be indicative of NHS mental health care on a greater scale."

A hospital spokesman said: "There are a great many inaccuracies in this story, a number of which are impossible to correct without breaking patient confidentiality.

"The Trust has a very clear policy on prohibiting the use of drugs on the ward. This is not a locked unit, and it is impossible to be completely sure that no drugs are on the ward at one particular time, but that is a problem common to all hospitals in London."

The forgotten

For most of his adult life, 'Andrew' has been held in a high-security mental hospital, even though the experts have repeatedly said that he should not be there

"Andrew" has spent more than two decades of his life locked inside a hospital where the experts say he shouldn't be. Now 48, he has been detained under the Mental Health Act since the age of 21 – for almost all of those years in one of Britain's three high-security hospitals.

Repeated recommendations have been made for Andrew to be transferred to a medium secure unit, but no such move has ever materialised. The situation has left him both despairing and frustrated.

As early as 1995, Andrew's social worker recommended: "The appropriate next stage of his rehabilitation should be at a regional secure unit, and we would hope that such arrangements can be made in the near future."

Two years later, a forensic psychiatrist "respectfully suggested" that Andrew's condition "could be managed in conditions of lesser security".

It was a sentiment echoed at official tribunals in 1999, 2000 and 2001, with the earliest of the three stating: "medium to low security would now suffice and should take place as soon as an appropriate location can be identified."

Yet despite these repeated professional recommendations, Andrew somehow still remains on the same locked ward that has been his only home since 1980.

Restricted by hospital regulations, Andrew was unable to talk to The Independent on Sunday directly, but spoke of his feelings through a solicitor.

"I feel the system has let me down completely," he said. "They just keep dragging their feet on and on. I don't seem to be getting anywhere at all.

"As far as I'm concerned, the hospital are not doing their job properly," he continued. "They're wasting my time and it's time I should have to move on and prove I can live a normal life. I just need a chance to be trusted, and I'm not getting one. Despite all that's been stated in tribunals about moving on, I'm still here."

Andrew was convicted of arson, indecent assault and assault with intent to rob in 1975, but has already served more time behind bars than many murderers. His solicitor, who cannot be named to protect his identity, spoke of her concerns.

"I don't know why he's still there, but there certainly doesn't seem to be a clinical reason for it," she said. "He never seems to have been given a chance.

"The problem is that these tribunals don't have the power to enforce their recommendations. Patients feel they've been successful, but then nothing happens. A lot of them are beginning to wonder what the point of tribunals are if the hospital doesn't listen to what they say."