THE chief executive of a North-East health care company has issued an unreserved apology after staff at a home in Bristol were secretly filmed mistreating vulnerable patients.

An undercover reporter from the BBC's Panorama programme spent five weeks working at Winterbourne View, a 24-bedroom facility for people with learning disabilities and autism run by Darlington-based Castlebeck.

The reporter captured footage of patients being repeatedly pinned down, slapped, taunted and teased.

The programme launched its investigation after being contacted by a former senior nurse at the hospital who had serious concerns about the behaviour of some support workers.

He reported his concerns to the management at Winterbourne View and the government regulator, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) but his complaint was not taken up.

Since being contacted by Panorama, Castlebeck has suspended thirteen members of staff and police are investigating.

The company is carrying out an internal investigation into its whistle-blower procedures and is reviewing the records of all of its 580 patients.

The vulnerable people filmed by Panorama have been moved elsewhere.

Castlebeck chief executive Lee Reed said: "All I can do is unreservedly apologise to both the families and the vulnerable adults that have been involved in this and recommit to making sure this doesnt happen again.

"I have been chief executive since January, and my job now is to ensure that this company moves forward from this appalling episode to having among the best, if not the very best, standards in the provision of care for some of the most vulnerable people in society."

The firm has also brought in consultants PricewaterhouseCoopers to carry out a review of the whole company, and has set up an external whistle-blowing telephone line for all employees.

Ian Biggs, regional director of the CQC for the south west, said an opportunity to prevent abuse was missed when the complaint was not investigated.

"We missed that chance and we are sorry for that and were doing everything we can now to make sure we're responding properly," he said.

Castlebeck was started in 1987 by two nurses and a doctor who worked at Aycliffe Hospital, near Sedgefield.

They bought Whorlton Hall, near Barnard Castle, and the firm grew rapidly to the point where it now employs 2,100 people at 56 facilties across the country, including many in the North-East.