St Andrew's Healthcare: Overhaul for 'failings' mental health charity

A mental health hospital charity which made "repeated and systemic failings" in its leadership is to overhaul its current services.

Several concerns were raised at St Andrew's Healthcare, based in Northampton, following an inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The charity will replace its facility at Fitzroy House, which could hold 110 patients, for a smaller service.

Chief executive Katie Fisher said its current model of care was "wrong".

Ms Fisher said the model "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".

The charity also plans to reduce the number of young people it supports, Ms Fisher added.

CQC inspectors, who visited the charity's headquarters on 23 and 24 October, found the use of physical restraint had increased despite a plan to reduce it.

They also found the process of telling a patient's family when something went wrong was "not fully effective" and that staff were not always confident to raise concerns without fear of reprisals.

Ms Fisher, who joined the charity 18 months ago, said: "We have already taken disciplinary action against the small number of staff members in our [child and adolescence mental health service] whose treatment of our patients is completely unacceptable.

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

She added it was her "personal mission to remove barriers" to those speaking out but "changing the culture of an organisation this size is not something which can happen overnight".