Women patients to leave St Andrew’s hospital

Female patients are to leave St Andrew’s Healthcare’s Northampton hospital as part of major changes to the way the charity provides specialist mental health services.

The organisation has confirmed plans to stop providing inpatient services for women at its Northampton site, with patients expected to transition to alternative services as part of the changes.

St Andrew’s Healthcare is one of the UK’s largest specialist mental healthcare charities and provides services for people with complex mental health needs, including secure and specialist inpatient care.

The decision represents a significant change to provision at the Northampton hospital, where specialist services for women have been delivered alongside care for men and young people.

Any transition involving people receiving specialist inpatient mental healthcare will require careful planning between St Andrew’s, NHS commissioners, receiving services, patients and their families to ensure continuity of care.

The move comes during a period of considerable change across specialist mental health inpatient services in England, with increased scrutiny of the quality, safety and appropriateness of long-term institutional care.

Further details are expected around the timetable for the changes and the future use of the affected services at the Northampton site.

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