A former patient at Goodmayes Hospital has spoken out about her treatment while an in-patient eight years ago.

Elizabeth Layzell, now in her late 30s, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that while on the ward she witnessed physical restraint being used “as a form of control” when patients would not comply with staff’s requests or in response to “behavioural issues” such as arguments.

Elizabeth, who grew up in Essex, claimed: “It was like ‘this is how we do things, don’t even question us’, if you questioned them it was more likely to get you punished.

“They would force meds down your throat and, if you refused, that’s when they would restrain you and press buttons to call people from other wards.

“It was just a prison – it wasn’t like a hospital – it was all based around control.”

The hospital, in Barley Lane, is run by North East London NHS Foundation Trust (NELFT).

A trust spokesperson claimed the trust is unable to comment on specific cases such as Elizabeth’s.

The spokesperson said the trust has the legal power to use restraint, including to force patients to take medication, if there is a risk to the health or safety of the patient or to the safety of others.

During her two months on the ward, Elizabeth was in the final stages of pregnancy, which she said made staff reluctant to use restraint on her.

However, she alleged this changed two weeks before her due date when she had an argument with another patient who was “a bit of a bully”.

She claimed: “I was standing in front of her and [staff] decided to grab me and pull me back and put me to the floor on my back.

“There wasn’t going to be violence, maybe it was over cigarettes or something, I think she was bullying [my friend] and I jumped to her defence, it was verbal.”

Later that evening Elizabeth says she went into labour and she believes her child’s birth came early because physical restraint was used.

Elizabeth was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder at 17, which she feels is linked to loss and trauma she experienced growing up.

She told the LDRS she has stayed on other mental health wards that were “completely different”, none of which used restraint as often as she claimed took place at Goodmayes.

She added: “I’ve been in so many mental health hospitals over the years and met so many mental health professionals and I don’t remember half of them because there’s nothing [bad] to remember. 

“I remember things [at Goodmayes] like it was yesterday, seeing my friend having her braids pulled.

“[Restraint] should be the last resort and last thing they choose to do, they don’t actually need to do that. People are a risk to themselves not others – they just need care, attention and love.”

The NELFT spokesperson added that policy at the trust is for all uses of physical restraint to be reviewed by the director of nursing through the Datix incident reporting system and any harm inflicted is reviewed by senior staff in weekly meetings.