A NORTH-EAST hospital has been criticised after the deaths of 12 psychiatric patients.

An independent inquiry was launched following the deaths of five in-patients in the care of Cherry Knowle Hospital, Ryhope, Sunderland, between 1999 and 2000.

During the same period, seven other deaths involving out-patients were also reported. All the fatalities were classified as suicides, or "undetermined" deaths.

While the review panel found no evidence of abuse, it criticised the health trust for lack of communication, ineffective teamwork and low staffing levels.

Although the report does not give details of any of the patients, it is known that one of them was Atul Bhatt, 37, who died after falling from the window of a sheltered home, in 1999.

Mr Bhatt was being cared for at Houghton-le-Spring, under the supervision of doctors at Cherry Knowle.

An inquest into his death recorded an open verdict, after it was revealed that a safety device on his bedroom window was faulty and care staff failed to report his deteriorating mental state.

Mr Atul's brother, Anil, 44, and parents, Jitendra, 72, and Kusum, 65, have spent £50,000 on a private investigation to find out what happened.

Another patient was Keven Knowles, 29, who died after suffering serious burns.

His mother, June, of Millfield, Sunderland, said: "We wanted answers, but we have not got them."

The NHS independent report said: "The system for monitoring and auditing the service was inadequate and the organisation had a false level of confidence in terms of how it perceived its own performance.

"Standards of overall care were found to be adequate, however, several incidents highlighted that when things had gone wrong, or when patients were physically hurt, the manner in which staff responded to questions by carers generally left the carers with heightened levels of anxiety and mistrust, rather than feeling reassured.

"From the evidence reviewed, it seemed that the lack of effective communication at many levels resulted in carers feeling isolated.

"In effect, all those interviewed clearly identified that the lack of effective communication left them feeling the trust had something to hide."

Some of the families of the dead patients are planning to take legal action.