The Charity Commission has opened a statutory inquiry into a healthcare charity amid a police investigation into allegations of abuse of patients.

The regulator had opened a compliance case into St Andrew's Healthcare in March, looking at trustees’ overside of safeguarding, the charity’s financial viability and its wider governance, management and administration.

But this has been escalated to a statutory probe due to ongoing concerns at the charity’s Northampton hospital, which supports people with learning disabilities, autism and psychiatric disorders.

The charity first contacted the regulator about the abuse allegations in August last year when it submitted a serious incident report “concerning potential mistreatment of patients at the charity’s Northampton site”, which had also been referred to police.

In February this year Northamptonshire Police confirmed it had made eight arrests relating to wilful neglect and ill treatment by a care worker in relation to the assault allegations.

In addition, a further investigation into the death of a man last year was taking place.

The charity is also subject to an investigation by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), which published a critical report earlier this year. This rated the charity’s Northampton hospital as “inadequate” and identified 14 breaches of its regulations.

The Charity Commission’s investigation will look into “the extent to which the current trustees are engaging and cooperating with relevant regulators” including the CQC and NHS England.

It will also look at its governance, including oversight of safeguarding, and the charity’s future viability.

“The extent of any reputational harm caused to the charity,” will also be looked.

In March this year the charity said that NHS England wanted to find alternative placements for patients at St Andrew’s Northampton hospital.

“Patient wellbeing is our priority, and we are working with NHS to understand next steps to support patients and manage any change to their care,” said the charity at the time.

“In the meantime, we will continue to deliver rapid and far-reaching improvements to patient care across every ward in Northampton, supported by NHS England.”

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

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