A mental health service at a Northampton hospital has been rated as ‘requires improvement’ by the care watchdog, with concerns raised over the safety and dignity of patients.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) carried out an unannounced inspection of the medium secure division of St Andrews Hospital Northampton, between November and December last year. The visit came in response to concerns raised about low staffing levels and poor attitudes towards patients.

A report into forensic inpatient and secure wards was published last week, rating the facility overall as ‘requires improvement’.

The St Andrew’s service provides care to patients with complex needs, including mental illness, who may have histories of offending and repeated failed attempts at moving back into the community.

placeholder image — St Andrew's Hospital in Northampton

St Andrew’s Healthcare said delivering safe and high-quality care remains a key focus in its improvement journey.

The report highlighted safety among its concerns: “We found that patients and staff did not always feel safe on the wards. Some patients told us that they had been subject to verbal and physical aggression.

“We found evidence of blanket restrictions relating to access to hot and cold drinks and snacks. Patients told us that they had experienced several issues relating to maintenance, including no access to hot water.”

The CQC said 19 allegations of abuse by staff had been made by patients in the six months prior to the visit, and inspectors were told that not all staff had protected patients from abuse.

One example included a relationship that had taken place between an ex-staff member and a patient. The report said that they were informed that some staff knew about it at the time but took no action to raise it, which indicated a possible ‘closed culture’ to the CQC.

It also found evidence of staining of a dried brown substance on a patient’s bedroom floor, walls and bed. Multiple patients on Mackaness ward also told inspectors that ‘it was dirty and was smelling’ due to patients soiling on the carpet.

Among the concerns raised, many patients said they did not see staff often enough and had to wait for their needs to be met. The report noted that the service had a high level of vacancies and a high use of non-permanent staff.

“Most staff spoke to us about a lack of capacity to attend to patients’ immediate needs due to staffing levels,” it continued, “We were told that this had resulted in incidents of patient to staff and patient to patient assaults.”

It added that some areas of concern highlighted above will require an action plan.

A St Andrew’s Healthcare spokesperson said: “Delivering safe and high-quality care for all our patients remains our key focus and we are pleased the CQC recognised our teams are ‘good’ in the responsive and well-led categories.

“We are on a journey of continuous improvement and are committed to delivering the standard of care which our patients deserve. As a charity, which looks after people with complex mental health conditions, our purpose remains to inspire hope among all those who we look after.”