Northamptonshire Police has confirmed it has made a raft of arrests as part of its ongoing investigation into allegations of abuse of patients at a charity run hospital for people with learning disabilities, autism and psychiatric disorders.

The arrests have been made following the allegations at St Andrews Healthcare’s facility in Northampton that is also subject to a probe by health regulator the Care Quality Commission (CQC), which has been forced to restrict new admissions amid concerns around patient safety.

Police have confirmed that eight people have been arrested on suspicion of wilful neglect and ill treatment by a care worker in relation to allegations of assault made in July last year.

All remain on bail as part of “this complex investigation” said a spokesperson for Northamptonshire Police.

They added that “A further investigation continues into the death of a man in February 2025. Five people were arrested on suspicion of corporate manslaughter and gross negligence manslaughter.

"Four people have been released with no further action being taken against them while one person remains on bail for the offence of wilful neglect by a care worker.”

In addition, detectives are investigating a report of an assault alleged to have taken place in June 2025. This has led the arrest of a woman from Northampton on suspicion of assault and ill treatment and wilful neglect in connection with this incident. She has been released on bail pending further enquiries.

The spokesperson added: “Due to the nature of the investigations, we remain in contact with the Care Quality Commission.

“We continue to work tirelessly to establish what happened in each of these incidents and ask anyone who may have any information that could assist us to contact us on 101.”

Northamptonshire Police added that a corporate manslaughter and gross negligence manslaughter investigation took place following the death of a teenage girl in October 2024.

“An individual was arrested in connection with this investigation but has been released with no further action,” the spokesperson added.

CQC concerns

A critical CQC report published two months ago rated the hospital as “inadequate” and identified 14 breaches of its regulations relating to care, safeguarding, treating patients with dignity and respect, management and staffing.

CQC deputy director of mental health Craig Howarth said at the time that patients are “at risk of receiving unsafe care” despite previous warnings to management to improve.

“This inspection took place due to a serious incident on a ward involving an alleged assault by a member of staff,” he said.

“In addition to this incident, we saw evidence of closed cultures on wards and several other incidents which were improper, abusive, inappropriate and unsafe.”

Charity pledges ‘decisive action’ to improve

The charity’s chief executive Dr Vivienne McVey has apologised after admitting “we have not delivered a consistently high standard of care for all patients”.

She added: “Accepting where we have fallen short is important, but it is not enough. These issues demand decisive action, and we are making the changes needed to put things right.

“We are not in denial about the scale of change required. We know we have fallen short in the past, and we are determined to put things right.

“Our focus is on urgent, sustained improvements to deliver the consistently high quality care that our patients deserve.”

Action being taken by the charity includes implementing a patient safety programme on all wards, new training for frontline staff, installing CCTV on wards and “building an open culture where staff feel safe to speak up”.

The charity also runs facilities in Birmingham, Essex and Nottinghamshire.

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