Secure unit at Bethlem will not reopen following escapes of teens

The Bill Yule Unit has been closed since February when four dangerous teenagers escaped, sparking a week-long man hunt.

Now hospital bosses at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust [SLaM] have confirmed the unit will not be reopened.

Four members of staff are also now facing disciplinary hearings following a human resources investigation carried out by the hospital.

The unit is currently being refurbished and will be reopened as a general adult mental health ward for local people.

But the service for dangerous teens could still be provided in another facility on the site.

A SLaM Spokesman said: "Our adolescent forensic inpatient service remains suspended. A decision about the service’s future will be made when the independent review commissioned earlier this year has been completed.

"If the service does reopen, it will not return to the building where it was previously based at Bethlem Royal Hospital. This building will now be used for our new Triage Ward which will provide a rapid assessment of need for people living locally who are admitted to hospital with mental illness."

Former Beckenham councillor Rod Reed, who has campaigned against the unit since before it opened, said: "I would welcome the Trust's decision to close the Yule unit but the issues surrounding escapes from other units have not gone away.

"Personally I think it would be a mistake to reopen it in another part of the hospital. We had copper bottom guarantees last time that it would be run in a professional manner and it hasn't happened.

"There's a trust issue here. I really struggle to see how they can run a secure unit."

In recent years the trust has made attempts to tackle the high levels of patients leaving secure units without permission.

Between April 2009 and April 2010, 21 patients either absconded or failed to return from approved leave during their stays at medium secure units.

Following the introduction of an electronic tagging system this was reduced to 12 between April 2010 and 2011 and four between April 2011 and March 2012.

It is not currently allowed to tag adolescents.

Portfolio holder for public protection and safety Councillor Tim Stevens said: "I believe the hospital’s management has taken the right decision to close the adolescent unit to enable the full investigation to take place unimpeded and I welcome the suggestion to use the building in an alternative way."

There was another incident yesterday morning at around 8.30am when a male patient managed to escape his two minders while he was being transferred between units.

The patient ran away and was found by police knocking on a door in Wickham Road.

He was then arrested and brought back to the hospital.

Beckenham MP Bob Stewart said: “The adolescent unit at Bethlem Hospital needs to be secure and if that cannot be guaranteed by the SLAM Trust then I welcome it’s closure.

“I am appalled that a patient under staff supervision has yet again managed to escape from Bethlem Hospital. I will be seeing the Chief Executive of SLaM Trust Stuart Bell at Bromley Council on Thursday evening to find out how this could possibly happen and will comment thereafter.”

Previous escapes

Feb 2012: Four dangerous teenagers escape from secure adolescent unit.

March 2011: Zerdasht Ali goes missing from hospital.

January 2011: Keith Hyland absconded from the hospital while on approved leave from the hospital. He returned four days later.

February 2010: Colin Coakley escapes from a secure unit. He is found by police two days later .

December 2009: Fiona Guy goes missing

November 2009: Convicted murderer Patricia Gillette goes missing while on escorted leave from the hospital. She is found by police two days later.

Hospital bosses will be present at a Bromley Council meeting of the public protection and safety committee on Thursday [May 31] to answer questions on security.