Police probe neglect and abuse at stroke unit
Police in Britain are investigating potential corporate failings contributing to the death, ill-treatment or neglect of patients at Blackpool Victoria Hospital's stroke unit.
Every staff member at the Blackpool unit, dubbed the ‘hospital of horrors’, has now been jailed as police continue to probe allegations of neglect and abuse, the Lancs Live news website .
Former consultant Dr Amal Bose, who is beginning a prison sentence, is the sixth staff member at the Lancashire medical unit to have been jailed for criminal offences committed at work.
Police were called to investigate allegations of neglect on the hospital's stroke unit in 2018.
Bose’s trial at Preston Crown Court heard about a toxic culture and predatory behaviour, but the Whinney Road hospital (pictured) has faced allegations of neglect, mistreatment, and possible corporate failings.
Major investigation
Lancashire Police confirmed last week that the stroke unit is at the centre of a major investigation, Operation Bermuda, which is considering offences including corporate manslaughter, corporate ill-treatment, wilful neglect, and breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act.
Staff nurse Catherine Hudson and healthcare assistant Charlotte Wilmot were jailed for their roles in a neglect scandal in December 2023.
Their trial, at Preston Crown Court, heard how patients would be sedated to give the staff an easier shift.
Hudson was jailed for seven years, while Wilmot was locked up for 32 months.
Evidence showed a "dysfunctional" drugs regime on the stroke ward, with free and easy access to controlled drugs and medication which led to "wholesale theft" by staff.
Their trial heard that, in 2017 and 2018, there was "a culture of abuse" on the stroke unit, with staff able to help themselves to Zopiclone, a strong sedative, and other drugs for their own use or to drug patients.
Some medical staff reportedly used the drugs to manage the effects of class A substances, the court heard.
Conspiracy to steal drugs
Staff nurse Marek Grabianowski, 46, was also jailed for 14 months for conspiracy to steal prescription drugs and perverting the course of justice.
Two other colleagues were also handed non-custodial sentences.
In 2021, police were reviewing the deaths of eight other patients treated on the unit in 2018 as part of allegations of mistreatment and neglect.
Those inquests remain outstanding.
A grandmother, Valerie Kneale, died after being admitted to the stroke unit. Detectives discovered Mrs Kneale had been “forcefully sexually assaulted” and died from fatal internal bleeding as a result of her injuries.
Blackpool coroner Alan Wilson ruled that Mrs Kneale's stroke did not contribute to her death but, despite probes and multiple appeals, no one has been brought to justice for the unlawful killing.
Punched dementia patient
In February 2024, locum doctor Xowi Mwimbi was jailed for 12 months after he was convicted of punching a dementia patient in the face.
The jury found him guilty of ill-treatment by a care worker. He was jailed for 12 months.
In May 2023, Hernando Puno, a healthcare worker on the stroke unit, was jailed for nine months after being convicted of five counts of sexual assault.
In March 2025, Dr Aloaye Foy-Yamah was banned from medicine for 12 months after a General Medical Council tribunal found he had raped a female colleague.
Critically ill
Fletchers Solicitors, which is representing the families of a number of patients to have been treated on the stroke unit, told Lancs Live website that patients did not expect to encounter these types of issues when critically ill.
Partner Christian Beadell said: “We hope that the investigation can surface the responsibility for some of these things on an organisational level.
"This is reflective of the severity of what has taken place, and the hope is that lessons from this will be learned across other NHS Trusts to prevent something like this happening again.”
The hospital trust has changed leadership since 2018 and is co-operating with the police.