Leigh Day secures compensation scheme for patients who were sedated and abused at youth psychiatric facility from the late 1960s to the 1990s

Hill End Adolescent Unit was a residential psychiatric treatment facility in St Albans for adolescents under 16. It was operational between 1969 and 1995 and took referrals from Northwest Thames Regional Health Authority which covered Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and several north and west London Boroughs. Hill End was managed by Dr Peter Bruggen, a child psychiatrist, now deceased, who was known at the time for his unconventional approach to treating behavioural issues in children.

Records from the facility confirm that high doses of the antipsychotic drugs Largactil (chlorpromazine) and chloral hydrate were prescribed routinely and administered frequently to patients. The drugs were sometimes topped up multiple times causing painful and distressing side effects and rendering patients unconscious for hours or days at a time.  Records also confirm that sedation was used as a method of control and punishment and to reduce staff anxiety rather than for therapeutic purposes.

In 2017, the law firm Leigh Day was approached by a group of former patients who reported being abused and mistreated at Hill End. Their testimony included allegations of excessive sedation, violent restraint, sexual abuse and physical assault.

Leigh Day partner Emma Jones took the matter to Hertfordshire Constabulary which conducted a three-year investigation into the allegations called ‘Operation Meadow’. The investigation did not result in any arrests or criminal prosecutions, but the police did find that the use of sedation at Hill End did not meet the standards of the day and that children were repeatedly sedated and given adult doses of the drugs.

Following Operation Meadow, Leigh Day launched its own investigation into the allegations of abuse at Hill End. Leigh Day’s lawyers heard multiple accounts of sexual assault and rape of patients by staff members while under the effect of sedation and of patients being removed from the dormitories at night to be sexually abused.

Although Hill End was not a secure unit, former patients told Leigh Day that doors and windows usually remained locked and attempts to run away were often punished with sedation and solitary confinement. The patients, some of whom were victims of sexual abuse previously, say they were made to participate in inappropriate touch therapy and humiliating group meetings, with disruptive or unwilling participants often being punished with sedation and exclusion.

Most of Leigh Day’s clients were already vulnerable at the time of their admission, in many cases subject to care orders or on the child protection register. Some suffered from severe mental health or psychiatric conditions while others were deemed unmanageable or unwanted by their parents or carers.

After putting its clients’ claims to lawyers representing Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust and the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Leigh Day has negotiated a compensation scheme for the resolution of claims of sedation and abuse. The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has also offered an apology for what Leigh Day clients experienced at Hill End.

The Hill End Compensation Scheme will compensate those who were unlawfully sedated and/or subject to physical or sexual abuse or mistreatment at the unit between 1969 and 1995. Where a claim is accepted and settled under the scheme there will be a payment of damages and legal costs by the relevant Defendant (either the Trust or the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care) in accordance with the terms of the scheme.

The scheme, which came into effect on 3 July 2024, is open to all former patients of Hill End Adolescent Unit. Anyone who believes they may be eligible to make a claim under the scheme, should contact Leigh Day’s Hill End team at Hillend@leighday.co.uk

Saoirse Kerrigan, a senior solicitor at Leigh Day leading on the negotiation of the scheme said the following:

“The descriptions our clients have provided of Hill End Adolescent Unit are of a brutal and dark place. The evidence we have seen shows that for many years children who went through the unit were routinely sedated as a form of punishment and control, often rendering them unconscious and vulnerable to abuse, and leaving them traumatised for many years to come.

“We hope that the compensation scheme we have been able to agree will make our clients feel that they are finally being heard and give them some sense of accountability and closure. We also hope that many more will be able to benefit from the scheme."

Former patient and Leigh Day client, Laurence Allen said:

“The scheme for me, and I'm sure for others, is the start of a journey towards acknowledgement and closure. It is a recognition that what we went through as children happened, that it was wrong and that it has caused unimaginable damage. When we were children, we had no voice. Finally, after all these years, we have been listened to and given a voice. I am hoping this settlement will allow me to accept that what happened, put the past behind me once and for all, and become the best version of myself.”

Another former patient and Leigh Day client, Stan Burridge said:

"Most of us have been dragging around the burden of hurt caused by Hill End Adolescent Unit for many decades. I hope our experiences can be used as a catalyst for change and that the focus will now be on addressing the failings of a system that allowed a place like Hill End to exist for so long, and on ensuring that the already damaged lives of children in the care system are not further damaged by those responsible for their care.  I sincerely hope that this scheme will ease at least some of pain for those of us who have survived and stand as a deserved and lasting tribute to the countless others who aren’t here to see this day finally arrive.”