Mental health hospital where patients were secluded in unfurnished, unsafe rooms, rated inaequate by watchdog

Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Vulnerable patients at one of England’s largest charity-run mental health hospitals were kept in unsafe seclusion rooms for excessive amounts of time and without beds, blankets or pillows, a damning report has found. The Care Quality Commission has rated adolescent mental health services at St Andrew’s Healthcare hospital in Northampton ”inadequate”. “We were particularly concerned about how the service responds to patients whose behaviour staff find challenging,” said CQC deputy chief inspector of hospitals Dr Paul Lelliott after finding multiple examples of patients kept in seclusion longer than necessary without adequate reviews. “We are confident that when the CQC returns to inspect the St Andrew’s Healthcare Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service in the next six months, they will see significant improvement that will be reflected in an improved rating.”