06/02/2017 Inside Out East Midlands

Imagine this, you're 12 years old, you're

vulnerable, you're alone and

you're in hospital.

You do trust your doctor, but then he injects you

with a drug and your whole world turns black.

So, what really happened at Aston Hall Hospital?

This former patient is returning to the site

where she believes she was abused.

He knew, when he drove along these roads, to that place, those

kids were in there and we were terrified.

Also tonight, the skin condition which changes lives.

Losing my blackness was a big deal.

I love black skin, I love black people and to lose that, that was

tough.

And what's happened to all the lorry drier.

We got a shortage of drier.

Obviously, we could probably set ten drivers out today,

nobody wants to come in the industry.

We're in Darley Abbey in Derbyshire where the stories that

matter closer to home.

Welcome to Inside Out for the East Midlands.

First tonight, over recent months dozens of former patients of Aston

Hall Hospital in Derbyshire have come forward to say that they were

experimented on and abused stop police and health are investigating

those claims.

Inside out has discovered that a former remand home

in Derby channelled children to the hospital

from all over the country.

Simon Hare has spent the last few months

filming with the woman who

has led the fight to find out what really happened at Aston Hall.

The remains of Aston Hall Hospital near Derby.

From where she was sent to Aston Hall.

of Aston Hall Hospital in Derbyshire have come forward to say

that they were experimented on and abused stop police and health

are investigating those claims.

Inside out has discovered that a former remand home in Derby

channelled children to the hospital from all over the country.

Simon Hare has spent the last few months filming with the woman

who has led the fight to find out what really happened at Aston Hall.

The remains of Aston Hall Hospital near Derby.

Before it was demolished, it's became a haven for urban explorers.

Their images would indirectly helped to uncover claims

of a deep, dark secret.

We were too much of a headache for social services, to cheeky.

I know a place where we can get rid of this one.

The forgotten children.

They were vulnerable children, subjected to medical

treatments and abuses.

Horrific.

When that flashback happens, for that split second

that your back there.

This former patient was admitted to Aston Hall in 1971

when she was aged just 12.

When we first filmed with her, she asked us not

to reveal her identity.

A nurse opened the door.

The nurse had keys.

I thought that was a bit strange, but my nerves were everywhere

and I'm looking forward to getting into bed and getting

And that doctor was there.

He took them and he said, "No tea tonight.

Treatment."

That doctor was Kenneth Milner, superintendent

at Aston Hall for 30 years.

I was taken into a room.

There was a mattress on the floor.

A rubber mattress.

She told me to lie down on the mattress.

I did.

I didn't argue with these people and they gave me medicine,

so I wasn't exactly right I don't think.

I'm sure I heard a trolley move again, getting taken back out

and then the doctor came in.

He carried with him cushions and he put them on the floor

next to the mattress.

I don't know how long I was knocked out for.

I don't know how long I was in that cell for.

She was injected with sodium amytal, a powerful sedative

on several occasions.

When I'd come round, the doctor would still be

there and he'd asked me a really ridiculous question

like, "How old are you?"

I learned even though I was under this that

if I respond, he'll put more.

It was most terrifying.

I can't express how bad it was.

It was really, really, really upsetting.

More than 20 years later, she had a flashback which led her to believe

she was sexually abused during her treatment.

I was driving and we're at the lights and I went to turn left.

When I suddenly looked and I looked at this building and the worst

flashback ever because the building had the same brickwork.

That was when I realise that, yeah, it had been sexual.

100%, definitely.

Sexual.

I knew.

There was a lot more victims because I wasn't in that place

on my own and there were also boys on the other wing.

Two years ago, the Internet brought other claims of abuse to light.

I went on this site and it was a photographer's site.

Who took pictures of derelict buildings and then I seen this

comment left by another person.

I was a patient there back in the late '60s.

Three years of abuse and pure hell.

The comments kept coming.

Horrendous place.

Treated like a unity because I had fits.

When not having treatment we were drugged up so we were like zombies.

As the campaign to find out what happened to former patients

grew, Barbara O'Hare decided to step out of the shadows

and waived her legal right to remain anonymous.

Today, she's taking us to decide where all happened.

Today, she's taking us to the site where all happened.

How many children come along this road and they didn't have any idea

what they were going into?

A hellhole.

So, that's the old hall.

The's probably the only thing that's left from a new here, isn't it?

When I was a child here, yes.

She was there for eight months before her ordeal

finally came to an end.

On a rare visit home, Barbara's dad caught her trying

to electrocuted herself on a fire.

They told us we're going to get electric shock treatment

and I was terrified.

Absolutely petrified.

So I was that frightened that all I could do

was prepare myself for it.

And that's when my dad just said, you're not going back there no more.

I'll never forget that feeling.

Barbara's search for information goes on.

Records tracked down by Inside Out revealed how she came

to be in Aston Hall.

She was sent there by the Breadsall Remand Home for girls in Derby.

It had an arrangement with Coventry City Council which had

been responsible for Barbara's care.

Unbelievable.

The files show many other local authorities across the country also

sent girls to be home in Derby, specifically to get girls

treated by Doctor Milner.

And all in spite of concerns raised earlier by the remand home's

management committee that a children's psychologist instead

of Doctor Milner and Aston Hall would be more appropriate.

Simon, I am shocked.

I'm disgusted.

To the pits of my stomach and I am shocked.

Everything has come together like a jigsaw.

Everything that I've been trying to prove and save four years is now.

This proves a lot of people's stories.

Derbyshire police have spoken to more than 100 alleged victims

of Doctor Milner who died in 1975.

Detectives are still reviewing hospital records and say they'll be

seeking expert evidence on the treatment given.

A BBC Radio 4 documentary discovered that the drug used at Aston Hall,

sodium amytal, wasn't considered suitable for children even

in the 1960s and '70s.

But in some cases, it has also been found to cause false memories.

We talk about false memory syndrome.

OK.

Maybe it exists.

But surely to God, all of these people can't

have the same false memory.

Back in Barbara's home city in Liverpool, her solicitors

are pursuing a claim for compensation on behalf

of her and 29 others.

We have presented claims to the Secretary of State for Health.

They have appointed their own solicitors

to respond to those claims.

They are currently investigating the allegations.

Maybe we can save just one child.

If today I can save just one child, believe me, everything I've been

through will be worth it.

That's all I've got to say.

Barbara's campaign has seen her meet survivors of sex abuse.

And she says she's been helped herself by writing a book

about her experiences.

When I came out of Aston Hall, I came out with a great big balloon

of lead inside my chest.

Fear.

It never, ever left.

You know something?

Since I've written the book, it's not a lump of lead any more,

it's just a black shadow.

For Barbara, there is one last demon to confront.

The remand home in Breadsall at the edge of Derby.

From where she was sent to Aston Hall.

I can't.

It is now a private home.

Simon, just walk with me a little bit down, will you?

OK, yeah.

It's all right.

Oh, my God.

Is it coming back?

I actually feel physically sick.

Honestly.

I really feel ill.

I don't think I can handle it because you see that window there?

That's where I was made to wait.

I was only a kid.

And that's when he came in and held my hand

and started stroking my hand.

"You poor child."

Oh, "You poor child, you poor child."

It was weird.

And then he said to me, "Would you like to come to hospital?"

How could so many young girls be shipped from that place

to a mental institution?

I swear down dead, I'm going to make sure this never happens again.

Never.

Next tonight, half of us will suffer a form of skin complaint that

at some point in our life.

But with people living with vitiligo, that's those

distinctive white patches on the skin, they can become

so self-conscious they find it difficult to face

the world each day.

Now the largest ever trials on the condition are taking place

right here in the East Midlands.

I want to know what it is like to live with vitiligo

and whether there's enough help.

Facing a TV camera can make most people a bit nervous,

but for Anika Vassell, inviting us into her home

is an even bigger step.

Hi.

Hi, how are you?

Really well.

Anika has Vitiligo.

A condition she shares with a supermodel.

Come on through.

We're just on the laptop looking at images of Winnie Harlow.

Winnie is a supermodel with vitiligo.

She's presenting a fantastic and positive image for people,

the fact that she's, platform as a supermodel

and being celebrated.

She's beautiful.

She's gorgeous.

When Anika was 29, soon after giving birth to her first daughter Nairobi,

white patches slowly spread from her fingertips.

Losing my blackness was a big deal.

That was a big deal and I love black skin, I love black people.

To lose that, that was tough.

After a GP referral, she's been told she'll have to wait

months to be shown how to use special make up available

on prescription.

In the meantime, she makes do with her own.

When it did start to develop on my face, that was a bigger issue

than I actually realised for myself.

If I didn't have make-up on, I just wouldn't answer the door.

And Anika is not alone.

Maxine Whitten is a former university librarian

from one state in London.

She was about 12 when her vitiligo first appeared.

She's received an MBE after many years of helping to increase

understanding of the condition.

It wasn't that long ago that at least one dictionary had

a definition of vitiligo as a form of leprosy.

There were parts in the world where it was considered a form of leprosy

and people were ostracised.

It has nothing to do with leprosy, of course.

But that sort of thing sticks.

There was a stigma.

For years, patients had to accept that nothing much

could be done to help.

But that could change.

I've come to Derby where Doctor Jonathan bachelor runs one

of his dermatology clinics.

He's hoping to make a breakthrough to help people with vitiligo.

We think that it is to do with the immune system being too

active and destroying the pigment cells in the skin.

We don't really know what triggers off the process,

but we know there are some things that can make vitiligo worse,

particularly if people are unwell or if they are under a lot

of stress, that can make the vitiligo worse.

Jonathan and his team are running arguably the world's largest

clinical trials for the condition.

It involves more than 400 people using an ointment and a type

of ultraviolet lamp.

It is much less damaging than a sunlamp, but you

to have to be careful.

Maxine is part of the trials.

She uses the lamp every other day.

For nine months.

In our study, in our trial, we are looking at medical treatments

to try and bring back the pigment into the areas of vitiligo.

We are expecting the results to be available in about 2019,

but it is essential to consider the whole person and the impact

the condition has on them.

During my menopause when the vitiligo was

at its worst, I was distraught.

I didn't know what to do.

I didn't know where to turn.

It felt like my life was falling apart.

I had to pay, but I found a local psychologist who lived close

by and I had nine months of cognitive behavioural therapy

which changed my life.

What's that made me do is realise that I had value.

I put my make up on to go up the street.

I don't use it in the house.

There is no cure for this disease at the moment.

You have to learn to live with it.

Maxine is proof that psychological support does work.

As a parliamentary report points out, there is a lack of dedicated

psychological services for skin conditions.

Andrew Thompson is psychologist who helps people who are anxious

about their appearance.

This situation is pretty dire in terms of access

to psychological support.

He worked with Doctor Batchelor to provide guidelines

for health professionals.

I certainly had people tell me that it has affected

employment prospects, they have had bullying

or intrusive reactions.

People taking second takes and staring and so on.

Very few dermatology services have a dedicated access

to psychological support whether it be a clinical psychologist

or a counsellor or some other form of psychological practitioner.

It is just not there.

There are about three centres in the UK.

NHS England have told is that to improve the integration

of physical and mental health, more than ?70 million

is being invested over two years right across the country.

In the East Midlands, only west Nottingham will receive

the extra mental health support for long-term physical conditions.

Hi, I just wanted to share with you, some of my Facebook friends

and people that I have known for years, who haven't seen me

in a while, my changing face.

Meanwhile, Anika has found her own way forward.

After years of keeping her condition a secret, she's decided

to come out on Facebook.

I have got vitiligo...

I put a little video out there and I got some

fantastic response from that.

I work with young people who have anxiety disorders

and all kinds of things, so I was able to work

myself through it.

However, I did go through a period of darkness where it was tough.

Even though I'm more confident with it, because it was my changing

all the time and because it comes and it is out of the blue,

I have to take time to get to know it and be comfortable

with actually it spreading.

Anika's appointment for a make-up camouflage consultation

finally comes through.

She decides it's still worth doing.

It's provided by a charity called Changing Faces.

Sandra Burge is a full and make up demonstrator

and provides her services for free.

This is the colour that I think is good.

It has been a big deal for Anika allow us to film the consultation.

She is still not comfortable in front of the camera

without hiding the new patches around her face.

Those are new parts around my mouth that have just developed.

Yes.

I've got to come to terms with those ones.

I'm not ready to reveal all to the world just yet.

You've already done one step to come to terms with it by being in film.

That is great.

It can only get better.

Yeah.

That's amazing.

Yeah, that's really good.

Really good.

Yeah.

If you need this kind of camouflage make up,

then absolutely go for it.

For me personally, I won't be using it on a regular basis,

but it is fantastic to have the option.

It hasn't been easy.

It is good now.

I am fine now, but there have been some low points.

They don't know if it is going to continue and I'm going to turn

fully or I'm going to lose all my melanin or whether

it is going to stop.

There is no answers out there.

And as Jonathan Batchelor was saying there, the results of those clinical

trials will be published in one year's time.

Finally tonight, just about everything you eat,

drink or use will have spent some time on a lorry.

In fact, the multi-billion pound road haulage industry is keeping

the East Midlands economy ticking along quite nicely.

But did you know that there is a serious shortage of drivers?

Where have they all gone?

And what is being done to plug the gap?

Sarah Sturdy has been finding out.

Food, drink, doors, bricks and barrels.

They're all in a day's work for the Tailors.

How many have you got there then?

87 out there.

What have you got?

How many storage?

Three?

Three stored.

One broke down.

They're based next to junction 28 on the M1.

Thanks a lot, Richard.

Thank you.

Cheers.

Has this tyre been sorted out?

I've just sorted it, Alan.

They are on their way to it now.

They should be there in about 15 minutes.

Alan Taylor's dad started the business in the mid-'70s

with just one van.

Allen now employs 280 drivers, but he needs more.

Up onto the A128.

It has been broken down for just about 20 minutes.

Is it going to make load late?

Does the customer know?

We've informed the customer and everyone's aware of it.

We're constantly, daily short of drivers.

Obviously I could probably send ten drivers out today,

but nobody wants to come into the industry.

Particularly the younger driver.

Long hours, early starts.

They don't want to do it.

One of Alan's problems is that so many of his drivers are retiring.

After 40 years behind the wheel, Paul Redmond will soon be

parking his truck for the last time.

The standards of the vehicle and the drivers compartment inside,

a massive change on that side.

And the outside of it, I think it's gone backwards, to be honest.

I don't see why anybody would want to come into this industry any more.

There are still some new recruits to buck the trend.

Jamie Cooper is the third generation of his family to drive a lorry.

He treats Alan's truck as if it's his own.

This is my truck.

I live in this all week, so I treat it like it's my second home.

There are lorry drivers and trackers.

For truckers, it is their life.

They come on the Saturday just to clean the truck sort of thing.

Then you have got your lorry drivers who come just to get paid

and go home sort of thing.

I would love to do the heavy haulage with the big

excavators, stuff like that.

The big mega trucks.

Where will the next generation of drivers like Jamie come from?

Take a seat.

We have invited west Notts College students

and Central College Nottingham to see if they can be

persuaded the life of a lorry driver is for them.

Let us have a look at the vehicles then.

Never thought about lorry drivers, at all.

My family is in the haulage business and it is a good industry to be in.

There is plenty of work as it is constantly needed.

I think it is a very important job.

Not one that I personally would do.

My name is Colin Snape.

I started in the industry as a lorry driver.

The Road Haulage Association estimates there are 600,000 HGV

drivers in the UK at the moment and that is 45,000

of what is required.

It is a real issue.

We have seen small operators having to park their vehicles up

because they haven't got drivers.

They can only cope with that for a short period of time.

We are concerned that we have members who are going to go out

of business because they haven't got people to drive their trucks.

The average actual pay for an HGV driver is ?550 a week, which equates

to about ?27,000 a year.

The Government says it has invested ?17 million in training

and improved apprenticeships.

A Parliamentary transport report says there are too few

overnight truck services and many need improving.

This one is a good one.

Most aren't like The Stockyard next to the M18 near Rotherham.

Rated as gold standard by drivers.

You find a lot of services, they're not maintained well at all.

The showers aren't cleaned out.

There are some where the showers are Portakabins.

They are just dark and dingy.

There are some showers where you have seen excrement

in the shower bay itself.

If anything, it is putting a bad name against lorry drivers.

There is no security on the job at all.

When you are out on the road, there was somebody who just finished

cutting the trailer as I got up.

You don't know whether to confront them, whether they have got a knife.

Virtually every trailer we've got has got a cut in it.

The stockyard has overnight security, but the Government

is working with motorway services and truck-stop operators

to improve facilities.

In the meantime, drivers are not a happy bunch.

There is not a lot of respect for truckers any more.

The way we are treated, even though we are the main

vein of the country.

There you go.

Thank you.

Because drivers are making ?8, ?9 an hour, it is not enough.

There is so much training that has to be done and licenses.

I've got two sons I wouldn't want to come into this business.

Got that way, that should take you straight over.

To plug the gap, we have currently taken on some 25 foreign drivers.

They are from all over Europe.

As far away as Portugal, Spain, Belgium, Poland,

Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania.

I have been for three years here.

I like my job.

I am here because it is a better life for me.

I know that England needs drivers like me.

I don't know a company that isn't having to use European drivers

or international drivers.

Brexit is a big issue.

We must have free flow to the port and it is imperative

that we are able to recruit from European driver markets.

Back in the classroom, what do our students think

of Colin's career pitch?

I am looking at lorry driving, yeah.

To be fair.

I did find the ?3,000 that you need to get the biggest licence

for the biggest trucks a bit steep.

It doesn't really appeal to me.

It makes me want to train as a driver first and then

work my way up into the business.

Colin has found a potential recruit.

Finding more women drivers may be part of the solution.

Right now, just 8% of the workforce are female.

Cathy Whitehead is one of the few.

I've always liked lorries.

Always, if you gave me a choice of a Ferrari and a lorry,

I'd have picked a lorry any day.

When I first came here, I was petrified.

You pass your test and you think that is it.

Oh, wow, I have passed my test.

There is a lot more to come, there is a lot more to learn.

Nine years down the line, I am still learning.

To keep the show on the road, the industry needs to find more

drivers like Cathy and Jamie.

This is the best part of the night for me getting parked up,

getting relaxed with my telly out, to be honest.

If you get the bug, it is definitely a bug,

once you get the feel for it.

If it is in your blood, I don't think you can get away from it.

I think you just love it.

You either love it or you hate it.

In today's climate, I know that the bigger

companies are the survivors.

Where the future lies, I'm quite sure myself.

--Not quite sure.

That was Sarah sturdy reporting there.

That is it for us here at Darley Abbey.

Here is what is coming up next Monday.

Investigating the supermarket deals which aren't quite what they seem.

That is something that Tesco's head office needs to think about.

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