SECRET filming at Essex mental health hospitals revealed shocking treatment of vulnerable patients being manhandled by staff, mocked and left without care.

The despicable conditons were uncovered following three months of secret filming across 13 shifts at Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust’s (EPUT) mental health wards at Rochford Hospital and Broomfield Hospital.

In one of the most upsetting scenes, an anorexia patient is dragged across the floor and pinned down by five members of staff as the woman screams “get off me, get off me!”

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Another distressing moment sees a patient who is at high risk of suicide try to take their own life after being left unsupervised, despite their condition requiring them to be watched 24/7.

The footage, filmed by a healthcare assistant, also shows a scene where staff desperately try to find specialist scissors to save the life of a patient who had got hold of a ligature unsupervised.

During the three months filming, one patient escaped through a broken door and another had to be restrained on the floor for an hour during an episode.

Rochford and Southend East MP James Duddridge has called for action after the footage aired on Channel 4’s Dispatches programme on Monday evening.

“Since the hospital reopened as a mental health facility, I have visited five times and on some occasions with senior ministers,” Mr Duddridge said.

“During my visits, my principal concern at the time was the availability of spaces on the ward, not the level of care being provided to patients.

“I hope that the scenes presented by Dispatches on Willow Ward at Rochford Hospital are isolated incidents and I await the final report from the Care Quality Commission following their unannounced inspection last week.”

Last year, The Care Quality Commission (CQC) took urgent action following major incidents at EPUT and lowered the service’s rating to “inadequate.”

A new report is expected in due course followin the most recent inspection.

The mental health trust, one of the biggest in the UK, has also come under scrutiny and fined £1.5 million following 11 suicides between 2004 and 2015.

An EPUT spokesman said: “The care and safety of patients is our number one priority. We understand how distressing these allegations are for patients, their families and carers.

"We have commissioned a full investigation and have informed our regulators, safeguarding partners and partner organisations, and will continue to work with them and keep them updated on the actions we are taking as a result.”