A REVIEW of care services at a psychiatric hospital near York may lead to job losses, managers have said.

The owners of Stockton Hall, at Stockton-on-the-Forest, say they are considering changes, in an attempt to improve services.

But they say staff turnover is likely to be minimal, and fewer than nine employees at Stockton Hall are subject to review.

Gareth Mead, spokesman for Partnerships in Care Ltd (PiC), which runs Stockton Hall, said: "As part of the company's ongoing performance improvement programme, PiC is undergoing a period of review which may or may not result in a small number of redundancies.

"Every effort is being made to minimise any staff changes and less than three per cent of staff at the Stockton Hall facility are subject to review.

"All changes are designed to extend best practice in the way we operate our hospitals and services, and at the same time ensure that they are run as efficiently as possible.

"PiC is not in a position to be more specific about the changes at this time as the company is still in the process of consultation with its employees."

Mr Mead was responding to fears raised after an insider at the hospital contacted The Press concerned about the possible changes.

The person, who did not want to be named, said: "Stockton Hall secure hospital is once again abusing its patients due to wanting to save money and increase profits.

"Many staff are been made redundant and two wards have had their therapist removed without any notice to the patients, who have been left in the middle of unfinished therapy which is a very dangerous practice."

They claimed the hospital was putting "profit above care".

Stockton Hall is a medium secure psychiatric facility for adults, treating people with mild to moderate learning disabilities through to mental illnesses. It offers assessment, treatment, rehabilitation and longer term care.

Last month, The Press reported that a psychiatrist had been found to have worked at the hospital for more than two years without being officially registered.

An administration error was blamed after it was revealed the doctor had been "erased" from the General Medical Council's (GMC) register The psychiatrist's conduct was not questioned in any way and more checks were put in place to ensure the error did not happen again.