Nikki Fox,East of England health correspondent and
Matt Precey
Alamy/Michael Foley
CQC inspectors said the standard of care at St Andrew’s Healthcare was unacceptable
A mental health provider has had its rating downgraded to “inadequate” after an inspection found “unacceptable” failings.
Two patients told Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspectors they would prefer to return to prison rather than stay at the facilities operated by St Andrew’s Healthcare in Northampton.
In July, the BBC revealed how the unit was the subject of a police investigation into allegations of assault.
St Andrew’s, which cares for people with complex mental health needs, acknowledged that “we have not consistently delivered high-quality care to our patients”.
The CQC downgraded its rating from “requires improvement” to ‘inadequate’ following inspections in March and April.
They found a lack of trained staff meant people “were not receiving safe treatment”.
Their findings included:
A patient described being punched by a fellow patient for 10 minutes before staff intervenedCCTV footage showed a staff member using an “inappropriate intervention” by placing their elbow on the back of a patient’s neckTwo incidents where medications were administered to the wrong people, one of whom was taken to hospitalStaff were spotted on CCTV reading books, playing games or on laptops while they were supposed to be observing patientsAllegations of staff sleeping on dutyStaff untrained in British Sign Language, learning disabilities and autismHigh use of bank or agency staff who don’t know patientsShortages of nurses, occupational therapists and psychiatristsPatients faced bullying, and staff received racist remarks
The service has now been put into special measures by the CQC.
Two patients told the CQC that they wanted to go back to prison “as it’s better than here” and wanted to be transferred to other providers.
“One patient had requested to return to prison due to their concerns regarding care and treatment”, the report said.
Some staff said they had “continuously raised concerns about staffing levels and patient risk, however, they had not been listened to”, according to the findings.
“There were a high number of incidents”, it said, with the total number reported across all wards between September 2024 and the following March standing at 7,752.
Some patients said they were bored, with activities and leave cancelled due to staff shortages.
Dirty toilets, damaged flooring, stained sinks and damaged walls were also noted in the report.
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Inspectors identified a string of failings when the visited St Andrew’s in March and April
‘Significant and widespread concerns’
St Andrew’s Healthcare is a charity and is used by the NHS.
It cares for about 600 patients and employs more than 4,000 people across four locations.
According to the Charity Commission, it had an income of almost £220m in the year ending March 2024.
Craig Howarth, CQC deputy director of operations for Northamptonshire, said he was “disappointed to find that St Andrews Northampton hadn’t made the necessary improvements following our previous inspections”.
“It was concerning to see the service had a closed culture where staff didn’t feel comfortable raising concerns and had low morale,” he added.
The overall standard of care at St Andrew’s Healthcare Northampton “was unacceptable, and we have told senior leaders where they need to make urgent and widespread improvements”, Mr Howarth said.
St Andrew’s said it accepted the conclusions of the CQC report following the inspection.
Its statement added: “We have developed a comprehensive action plan with the CQC to urgently address the issues raised. This includes strengthening our processes, enhancing staff training, and improving leadership”.
“In addition, we are reviewing our range of services to ensure we remain focused on our specialist area of complex mental health.”
A Northamptonshire Police spokesman said: “We can confirm that we are conducting an investigation into alleged criminal offences at St Andrew’s in Northampton.
“As this is a live investigation, we are unable to provide any further information at this time.”