Ex-patient slams BBC

The 33-year-old, who asked not to be named, spent six weeks in the Canford Cliffs hospital after being arrested last October for self-harming.

She praised the hospital staff for their "superb" treatment of her and said the BBC had unnecessarily humiliated doctors and nurses who worked extremely hard.

The Inside Out documentary, shown on Monday night, claimed many patients - in cluding one who was detained for taking hostages and sectioned under the Mental Health Act - had escaped from the hospital after being allowed to roam the grounds unsupervised. But the woman, from Corfe Mullen, said it was right that the patient should be allowed his freedom.

She said: "Why should he be condemned for something that's beyond his control because of his illness and why shouldn't he be given a second chance?

"I self-harmed and the night I was arrested I was in a state where I could have attacked other people, but I wasn't locked up forever.

"Where do you draw the line at the level of observation? I feel strongly about this because I don't feel that the doctors should be humiliated by the BBC.

"There's lot of people that enter that hospital, visitors and staff, and they wouldn't put them at risk."

The woman was given medication and therapy during her stay and levels of observation and supervision were gradually decreased until she was allowed to walk around the grounds by herself.

She said she was proof that people with mental health problems could recover, with the right treatment, and added that the BBC was wrong for claiming the hospital needed increased security measures.

She added: "My stay in hospital was superb, my treatment was superb, but maybe I'm one of the lucky ones.

"I'm getting my life back together, I'm back in the community and I want other people to know that there's two sides to it.

"I know the person who was in the film - he's a lovely chap and I believe that he should be given a second chance."