'I'm dying here': Secret film reveals care abuse of West Kingsdown man with brain injury

His mother, Maureen Clarke, of Blunts Road, Eltham, has described how she felt "sick" watching the footage, which showed him left soaking in his own urine and having his call bell taken away.

Grant Clarke was a fit and active 43-year-old director of an IT company when he suffered a massive brain injury in May last year.

After being treated at King’s College Hospital in Denmark Hill and Darent Valley Hospital in Dartford, he was sent to West Kent Neuro-rehabilitation Unit in Sevenoaks Hospital.

However his mother and his partner, Binny, soon realised something was very wrong.

Former nurse Mrs Clarke, 71, said: "When we visited he would be up to his armpits in urine.
"He’d write on his lightwriter ‘I’m dying here'.

"When he’d tell he wanted go to the toilet to empty his bowels, instead of helping them, they’d say, ‘just do it in the bed and we’ll clean it up later’.

"When we suggested the idea of filming through an iPod charger, to him, he said: ‘yes, yes, yes’."

When his family watched the 10-day film, they were devastated.

Mrs Clarke said: "I felt sick when I saw him being given water because he’s nil by mouth. He could have choked.

"His call bell was taken away three times for between 10 and 16 minutes.

"One time it was taken away because he was calling for a member of staff when he had been sitting in his own urine waiting to be washed.

"Later he was interviewed by two staff members - without an advocate - and was reduced to tears because they told him ‘he was causing trouble’.

"It turns out only one member of staff had specific training on brain injuries."

The footage, which was shown on BBC's Newsnight on November 18, also revealed a nurse cleaning his feeding and medicine tube with a pen.

When his family showed the film to police, a court order allowed Grant to be moved to another unit in Hildenborough.

They made 26 complaints to Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust, which manages the unit, 22 of which have been upheld.

Mrs Clarke hopes the footage will prevent similar things happening in future.

She said: "You never picture this happening to anyone you know, especially my own strapping son.

"But where he is now, we know he is being properly looked after - I can’t tell you the relief I feel.

“It isn’t about having a go at the NHS because he would not be here if it were not for the wonderful staff who looked after him before in King's College and Darent Valley Hospital.”

A spokesman for Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust said: "We remain appalled at what happened.

"When the patient’s family made a complaint in November last year, we immediately suspended three members of staff pending detailed investigations, notified all relevant authorities, met with the family and watched their footage.

"We subsequently created a robust action plan to address all concerns and the trust has met with the patient’s family on several occasions.

"Of the three members of staff suspended, one was subject to disciplinary action and has already left the Trust, one went through disciplinary action and is now working under supervision, and one is still subject to ongoing proceedings.

"This September the Care Quality Commission (CQC) found the unit to be fully compliant with their standards with very positive feedback from the current patients on the unit."

The CQC visited the unit in December last year and raised concerns to the trust and again last September when they did not identify any problems.