CEO of scandal-hit hospitals resigns after The Independent exposes ‘systemic abuse’

The chief executive of a group of scandal-hit children’s mental health hospitals has stood down after a series of investigations by The Independent exposed “systemic abuse”.

Dr Sylvia Tang, CEO of Active Care Group which owns former Huntercombe Group hospitals, has left her role to “pursue a plural career”.

Her departure comes after months of mounting pressure on the firm after The Independent published a series of investigations uncovering allegations of widespread abuse from more than 50 patients and multiple claims from staff whistleblowers that staffing levels were so low patients were seriously harmed.

The Independent revealed a number of police investigations have been launched against the hospitals, including one into the death of a 14-year-old girl at a Maidenhead unit in February 2022 and a separate probe into an alleged rape of a child patient.

The watchdog, the Care Quality Commission, has also launched a criminal probe into the death of the 14-year-old over alleged safety failures by Active Care.

The Independent’s investigations, in partnership with Sky News, uncovered claims patients were “treated like animals”, over-medicated and injured during restraint.

And staff raised concerns over the over-reliance on untrained and inexperienced agency staff, which put pressure on its members who are already performing challenging roles.

Active Care Group bought 12 of the Huntercombe Group sites in December 2021, including two children’s hospitals in Maidenhead and Stafford.

It was forced to close its children’s services at its Taplow Manor unit, in Maidenhead, last month after the NHS stopped admitting patients to two of its wards over care concerns. But The Independent revealed the private firm plans to reopen adult services there in a matter of months, due to a loophole in the law.

A gap in the regulations means there is nothing to stop healthcare providers from applying to reopen, even if serious concerns have been raised about the closed operation. Its intention to do so sparked outrage from the union representing staff there and charities who said reopening the hospital was a “serious concern” given the issues raised.

The group’s Stafford unit, Ivetsey Bank, remains open but in April the CQC downgraded its rating from requires improvement to inadequate and raised concerns over “sexual safety” incidents.

Before leading the Active Care Group when it took over ownership of the hospitals in 2021, Dr Tang was made CEO of The Huntercombe Group in 2020.

The Huntecombe Group owned at least five children’s mental health hospitals in England in Maidenhead, Stafford, Norwich and Devon. In 2020, a nurse at its Devon-based hospital Watcombe Hall, which was shut in 2017, was jailed for the grooming and sexual abuse of child patients at the unit.

In a statement, Active Care Group said: “Dr Sylvia Tang has left Active Care Group to pursue a plural career and Keith Browner has been appointed as chief executive officer.”