Yorkshire & Lincolnshire

More than six years and several deaths later, unions say safety concerns from staff are still being ignored by the Health Trust.

Inside Out's research shows that since it opened in 2002, at least nine people have died while in the care of the Becklin Centre or within days of being discharged.

We asked the Leeds Partnerships NHS Foundation Trust to give us an exact figure for the number of deaths but they did not do so.

They did say that inpatient deaths are kept under close review and that each case is the subject of a detailed internal investigation.

Devastating loss

However, this is small comfort for Chris and Caroline Fletcher.

Christopher as a child with his dad.

Chris's son Christopher, a schizophrenic, was just 18 when he died at the Becklin Centre.

He died in his room after being allowed out on his own.

While he was out, he bought drugs and alcohol and then returned telling staff he felt unwell.

His father Chris was devastated: "I thought that it would be a place of sanctuary for him and a place of help, but as it ended up, he died there.

"A young lad of that age, why shouldn't there be more help for him? Why should he have died at that age, in a hospital with staff round him?"

Grieving stepmother Caroline Fletcher.

His wife Caroline wants answers: "They were supposed to be doing an hourly check on him," she said.

"They say that was done but when they went in at 21.40 they found him slumped on the floor and he had choked on his own vomit."

The Leeds Partnerships NHS Foundation Trust which runs the Becklin Centre told BBC Inside Out that lessons had been learned after the death of Christopher Fletcher but they were unable to give further details due to patient confidentiality.

They extended their sincere condolences to Christopher's family.

Patients at risk?

Inside Out has also obtained a copy of the most recent staff survey - for 2007.

The section on staff training doesn't make very encouraging reading.

The Becklin Centre - modern facility.

The survey, which covers the whole Trust, reveals that more than half the staff who responded had not had training on how to identify patients at risk of suicide.

More than two thirds had not had training in how to handle patients with mental health and substance abuse disorders.

The document also reveals that physical violence from patients and amazingly sometimes from colleagues and managers, remains an issue, as does bullying and harassment.

Failures and improvements

UNITE union official Terry Cunliffe, who represents health workers across Yorkshire, says staff morale is having an effect on patient care.

He said: "I firmly believe that the blame for the failures of this Trust lies with senior managers.

Terry Cunliffe has raised concerns.

"A number of our members have suffered from depression as a result of being bullied at work and their managers' failure to deal with it.

"The result of that is that they become ill and go off sick and their colleagues are having to pick up their workload and become ill themselves, so it's a vicious circle."

The Trust told BBC Inside Out that they are putting in measures to improve staff training in areas where it falls below the national average.

They say any occurrences of bullying or violence are thoroughly investigated and necessary action taken.