NHS priest turns ghostbuster to banish 'poltergeist' from 100-year-old psychiatric hospital

An NHS hospital has called in a ghostbusting priest to rid offices of a poltergeist after worried staff reported items being moved and appearing.

Workers in offices in St Ann’s Hospital Old Building in Poole reported to senior bosses they had experienced ‘several weeks’ of the unexplained activity.

It was treated so seriously the NHS chaplain Reverend Mike Oates was brought in to speak to the scared staff.

Then – after reporting his findings to hospital management – the decision was taken to hold a Holy Communion service with all those affected.

It proved successful with the unexplained incidents immediately stopping permanently, the ghost apparently vanishing.

Details on the extraordinary paranormal intervention emerged today for the first time following a Freedom of Information Act request to Dorset Healthcare University NHS Foundation Trust hospitals.

Hospital chaplain Reverend Mike Oates was called in to vanquish the pesky poltergeist spirit

St Ann’s Hospital Old Building’s offices in Poole, Dorset, was hit by the poltergeist activity

Both it and Reverend Oates were unavailable for further comment, but did confirm to MailOnline the service of Holy Communion took place.

While it is not strictly called an exorcism, the idea subscribed to by some is that any type of blessing and prayer can drive spirits away.

Vicar Jason Bray, who is known for carrying out exorcisms, has a communion kit within his own ghostbusting equipment. He has spoken in the past of his own work vanquishing poltergeists.

St Ann’s Hospital is a psychiatric hospital located in the Canford Cliffs area of Poole, Dorset.

It was designed by Robert Weir Schultz, was built between 1909 and 1912 and expanded in October 2013 at the cost of £14 million.

Reverend Oates has been chaplain there since 2011 and covers a number of hospitals within the trust.

Recent documents show the Chaplaincy has a budget of just £1,000-a-year with a further grant of £900 to pay for a keyboard player to get to St Ann’s. 

A hospital in Liverpool is included among one of the most haunted buildings in the UK.

Previous ghost hunting holymen include Reverend Jason Bray who also carries communion kit

The spirit banishing heroics echo film ghostbusters where people vanquished evil forces

Newsham Park Hospital is a former orphanage and was even at one point opened up to ghost hunters and paranormal investigators.

The Grade II listed building has previously been used as a medical hospital and a mental asylum before its 1997 closure. 

But until now St Ann’s Hospital Old Building has never come up on spirit finders’ radars.

The information released by the hospital said the ghostly encounter happened in 2014.

They said: ‘Experience over several weeks of activity in a multi-occupied office; movement of items, unexplainable items being found.

‘Referrals made to Chaplain. Chaplain spent some time in the office with staff listening to their accounts.

‘It was decided, in consultation with hospital management, to hold a service of Holy Communion in the office and to invite all those who had been affected directly or indirectly.

‘No further experiences were reported.’