Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of mental health crisis and inpatient provision in Northamptonshire following changes to services at St Andrew’s Hospital.

St Andrew’s site in Northampton provides care for a complex mix of patients on both an inpatient and outpatient basis. The decision by NHS England relates to inpatients at St Andrew’s Northampton site only. It is important to note that Care Quality Commission enforcement against St Andrew’s meant that no new patients have been admitted to the inpatient unit at Northampton for some time.

Of the inpatients at St Andrew’s Northampton site, the majority are adult secure commissioned patients. Many of these patients are subject to Ministry of Justice restrictions. The decision will mean limitation upon the number of available adult secure beds in Northamptonshire, however alternative placements are being sought for patients in the region as well as in surrounding areas. The majority of other patients in St Andrew’s, Northamptonshire are patients placed by integrated care boards (ICB) into other core mental health services provided by St Andrew’s.

NHS England is working with all placing commissioners, including Northamptonshire ICB, the East Midlands provider collaboratives and local providers, asking them to identify and transfer patients to alternative placements (within the community, other health or detained settings) in line with clinical need and informed by patient and family wishes. This approach is being informed by available capacity, impact across services and enabling the identification of specific additional requirements. This is a live situation; therefore, the assessment and response are evolving. An Ethics Framework has been used to guide decision making recognising that there are a range of risks which need to be carefully balanced. Recognising the wider health and economic context for the county, Northamptonshire ICB have also convened a local system response forum to ensure that local partners are informed and engaged.