A HAMPSHIRE psychiatric unit plagued by patient suicides is in crisis with dangerous understaffing levels, it was claimed today.

The Daily Echo today lifts the lid on conditions inside Southampton's Department of Psychiatry, where four patients have apparently taken their own lives in recent months.

An official document obtained by the newspaper details nurses' concerns about widespread vacancies on the wards - and the use of agency staff to fill them.

It claims employees are working in a climate of fear, often turning a blind eye when patients openly take drugs or alcohol on the wards.

The report also says patients regularly smoke cannabis outside a ward manager's office without being challenged.

Concerns raised by staff include:

General understaffing putting nurses and patients at risk

Over-reliance on agency staff who do not know the ward or patients

Lack of continuity for patients

Nurses feeling vulnerable, stressed and demoralised

Not enough personal alarms to go around

Lack of communication between staff and managers

The damning claims come after a psychiatric patient apparently took his own life on the hospital's B Ward on Sunday evening.

As reported in yesterday's Daily Echo, David Cornford, 37, was found hanged from curtain tape just 24 hours after being referred by a police doctor, who had said he was a serious suicide risk.

Now his family is seeking legal advice and hope an inquest will help answer crucial questions surrounding David's death, the fourth of its kind at the unit this year.

One of David's sisters, Sue Langley, 41, of Sholing, Southampton, said: "We feel very strongly that he has been let down.

"We don't blame the staff who were on duty at the time but the management system. There are not enough staff on the ward and they are under such pressure."

Hampshire Partnership NHS Trust which runs the Department of Psychiatry has promised to work with police and staff on a full investigation into the tragedy.

Today trust bosses admitted there had been staffing problems at the hospital, which had 30 vacancies in August. By the end of this month, there will be 11.

Trust chief executive Martin Barkley insisted staffing levels had not played any part in Sunday's incident.

"Our initial investigations into the death of David Cornford suggest that a shortage of permanent staff did not have a bearing on this tragedy," he said.

"At the time the incident happened, the ward was fully staffed with two permanent qualified nurses, a permanent health care support worker and a temporary staff health care support worker.

"Indeed, planned staffing levels were maintained throughout Mr Cornford's stay on the ward, with only a relatively small reliance on temporary staff."

Mr Barkley added: "With regard to the tragic death of Mr Cornford, there has only been time to conduct an initial review but, as with the other three deaths that have occurred in 2004, they appear to be unrelated with no common pattern or circumstances apart from the fact that they have all been in-patients of the Department of Psychiatry."

A trust spokesman said staff had been provided with new guidance about dealing with substance misuse.

UNISON Southampton health branch vice-secretary Amanda Weldon said: "We are aware of on-going problems and are working with management to find a quick and safe resolution.

"The feedback we have been getting from staff over the past four weeks is that things are beginning to improve."