St Andrew's Healthcare to move 'overstretched' child mental health service out of purpose-built Northampton base

St Andrew's Healthcare's 'overstretched' child mental health service is being reduced and moved out of its purpose-built base in Northampton, it has been announced today (Monday, February 17).

Child and adolescence mental health service (CAMHS) patients at Fitzroy House will go from 99 to 30 and relocated to a smaller base at the Billing Road site.

St Andrew's is assessing how best to use the specialist CAMHS inpatient hospital, which opened on Cliftonville Road in January 2017 and can accommodate 110 patients.

The move, due to be completed by the autumn, follows two scathing inspections from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and concerns raised by the NHS.

St Andrew’s chief executive Katie Fisher, who took over the charity 18 months ago, apologised for the treatment of patients by 'a small number of staff'.

“When I came to the organisation 18 months ago, I made a promise: there is zero tolerance at St Andrew’s for staff who do not live by our core values of compassion, accountability, respect and excellence," she said.

“We have already taken disciplinary action against the small number of staff members in our CAMHS service whose treatment of our patients is completely unacceptable.

"There is no excuses for this behaviour, and for this we are sorry. We know we need to make significant changes, and quickly."

A St Andrew's spokesman said is working closely with patients, carers, staff members and commissioners in order to minimise the disruption to patients during the transition.

The CQC report from June 2019 criticised St Andrew's for severe failings in CAHMS, including sparsely-furnished seclusion rooms with no beds or blankets, 'undignified' treatment of patients and, reportedly, 'exposed sharp metal' in extra care suites.

While an interim inspection in January this year found improvements were underway at the hospital but criticised its leadership team for being slow to address concerns.

Meanwhile mental health placements from NHS Wales for some services provided by St Andrew's have been suspended after an inspection.

Ms Fisher said: “The current model of care we are providing to some of the most vulnerable young people in our country is wrong.

"Our CAMHS facility is the largest in Europe, which means our permanent staff are overstretched, we have to rely on agency staff and, as a result, we are not always able to provide the high standards of care we expect.

“I’m personally committed to resolving this situation with urgency and purpose, which is why we are implementing a new strategy that will see the service move out of Fitzroy House and a reduction in the number of young people we support.

“We need to be able to provide much more bespoke high-quality care for children and adolescents who find themselves in a mental health crisis.”

Ms Fisher also thanked those employees who have dedicated their lives to helping the most vulnerable people in society.

St Andrew's is the UK’s biggest independent charitable provider of mental healthcare and has bases around the country with its headquarters in Northampton.