Significant improvements at high security psychiatric hospital in Retford after damning report

Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust has provided a progress update on improvements at Rampton Hospital after Care Quality Commission (CQC) investigations found several problems last year.

The inspection, in the summer of 2023, also found the psychiatric hospital as a whole needed to improve, giving it the overall rating of ‘inadequate’.

The CQC raised concerns over staffing numbers, staff supervision, training and medicine.

They found understaffing had caused patients to be locked in their rooms for extended periods.

The Trust immediately implemented a comprehensive quality improvement plan, working closely with the CQC and NHSE to address the concerns.

Inspectors carried out a series of on-site visits to assess services at Rampton Hospital in October 2024, before notifying the Trust that they were satisfied with the changes made.

The progress will be discussed at Nottinghamshire County Council’s health scrutiny committee meeting on January 7.

A report to be discussed in the meeting reads: “The CQC has formally closed ten warning notices after reviewing evidence of the improvements made at Rampton.

“Inspectors carried out a series of on-site visits to assess our services, before notifying the Trust that they were satisfied with the changes made.”

Rampton Hospital has since recruited 75 nurses and health care support workers with a further 20 due to join very soon, improving staffing numbers, the report says.

They have also “significantly reduced” daytime confinement, improving the patient experience and reducing restrictive interventions.

The report, provided by the healthcare trust, adds: “Whilst we are proud of this progress, particularly in the Quality Statement regarding ‘Safe’, we are fully aware that there is much more to do and will continue working with our regulators and partners to make improvements.”

According to the CQC, Rampton Hospital is one of three “high-secure” hospitals in England.

It provides services to people detained under the Mental Health Act 1983.