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Hundreds of NHS patients are set to be removed from a privately-run mental health hospital following a string of allegations of patient abuse and neglect.
Health chiefs have ordered 287 inpatients to be removed from one of the sites run by St Andrew’s Healthcare after The Independent revealed it has faced several police investigations into allegations of abuse, rape and patient deaths.
The mental health hospital provider, which is a registered charity, can house more than 400 NHS patients at its Northampton site, some of whom are sent to the facility for specialist mental health care.
On Monday, NHS England issued a letter to local health chiefs ordering them to plan to move patients from the site. Patients will be transferred to other hospitals or discharged.
The letter comes after NHS England officials issued a warning to St Andrew’s Health in December 2025 over allegations of poor care.
In January, The Independent revealed St Andrew’s Healthcare had more than a dozen staff members arrested in relation to multiple police probes.
One corporate manslaughter probe was launched following the death of a teenager in October 2024. This has since been dropped.
Following a second patient death in February 2025, Northamptonshire Police arrested five people in relation to corporate manslaughter and alleged wilful neglect by a care worker. Four workers have since been released with no further action, but one person remains on bail for alleged wilful neglect by a care worker. The police took no further action in relation to the corporate manslaughter element of the probe, following discussions with the Crown Prosecution Service
In addition to this, and following reports in July 2025, eight care workers were arrested on suspicion of wilful neglect and ill treatment, and have been released on bail. The Independent revealed in February that one of the eight workers arrested had been arrested in relation to an allegation of rape of a patient.
Following an inspection by the Care Quality Commission in July 2025, a restriction was placed on new admissions to the St Andrew’s Hospital.
Now, in a letter issued on Monday, NHS England said it had taken further action and told local health chiefs: “We still do not have adequate assurance that patient safety is improving at the rate it needs to and our concerns about patient safety remain; we therefore must act now to ensure patients receive the care and treatment they deserve.
“This decision has been carefully considered alongside the wider ongoing work at St Andrew’s to improve patient safety and rectify unacceptable issues identified at the Northampton site.”
St Andrew’s Healthcare is a registered charity and provides inpatient mental health services across four hospitals in Northampton, Birmingham, and Essex, and received £206m a year from NHS contracts in 2023-24.
The removal of patients does not apply to the provider’s Birmingham and Essex hospitals, although NHS England is currently monitoring these sites.
Northampton Hospital is one of the NHS’s major providers of adult mental health beds and receives patients from across the country. In 2023-24, the average cost per bed was £685 a day, and it received at least £3.6m from the NHS for patients who could not be treated in their local area.
This does not include the cost of the specialist beds it provides to the NHS, such as those for the deaf patients with mental health needs.
An NHS England spokesperson said: “The NHS is taking action to remove patients from the St Andrew’s Northampton site to protect their welfare, given the lack of improvements and unacceptable issues identified.
“We recognise the anxiety this will cause for everyone involved and will do everything in our power to ensure alternative placements are managed safely, sensitively, and efficiently for all patients and families. In the meantime, we are providing 24/7 enhanced oversight at the site until every patient has been moved as well as supporting the sites helping to provide alternative care to ensure it is in patients best interests.”
A spokesperson for St Andrews Healthcare said: “We note the letter from NHS England. We are working through the implications for staff and our patients. We look forward to working with NHS England on a long-term plan to support patients.”
The Independent has contacted Northamptonshire police for comment.