- Independent mental health service
Cygnet Hospital Colchester
Assessment report published 17 February 2026
Contents
Ratings - Long stay or rehabilitation mental health wards for working age adults
Our view of the service
The assessment of long stay or rehabilitation mental health wards took place on 03 and 04 December 2025. We inspected the service due to an aged rating. This service was last inspected in June 2021. At that inspection, the service was rated good in all domains, and we found no breaches of the Health and Social Care Act regulations (2008).
At this inspection we inspected 1 ward - Ramsey Unit. This is a 21-bedded unit for men of working age who had experienced multiple placement breakdowns, failed treatment programmes or were stepping down from higher acuity services. The focus of the unit is to maximise positive outcomes and recovery while focussing on discharge planning from the moment patients arrived. At the time of our inspection, 17 people were using the service.
We rated the service as good. We found no breaches of regulations.
Mental Health Act and Mental Capacity Act Compliance Summary
The service admitted patients under the Mental Health Act 1983. Staff received and kept up to date with training on the Mental Health Act and the Mental Health Act Code of Practice and could describe the Code of Practice guiding principles. Training on the Mental Health Act was mandatory for staff, and the compliance rate was 91.7%.
Staff had access to support and advice on implementing the Mental Health Act and its Code of Practice. Staff received assistance from designated Mental Health Act staff.
The service had clear, accessible, relevant and up-to-date policies and procedures that reflected all relevant legislation and the Mental Health Act Code of Practice. For example, there was a process in place to monitor patient’s legal status and renewal dates, which meant staff were able to ensure reviews took place in a timely manner.
Staff explained to each patient their rights under the Mental Health Act in a way that they could understand, repeated as necessary and recorded it clearly in the patient’s record each time.
Staff made sure patients could take section 17 leave (permission to leave the ward or hospital) when this was agreed with the responsible clinician. The use of leave from the ward was agreed by the multidisciplinary team (MDT). Arrangements for leave were made at daily planning meetings and nurses carried out an assessment of each patient’s mental state before each occasion of leave was utilised.
Staff requested an opinion from a Second Opinion Appointed Doctor (SOAD) when they needed to.
Staff stored copies of patients’ detention papers and associated records correctly and staff could access them when needed.
Mental Capacity Act
Staff received and kept up to date with training in the Mental Capacity Act. Staff had a good understanding of the Mental Capacity Act. The training was initially provided as part of the induction process and thereafter staff had regular refreshers.
Staff assessed and recorded capacity to consent clearly each time a person needed to make an important decision. Staff took all practical steps to enable people to make their own decisions. Staff completed an assessment on admission of each person’s capacity to consent to admission and treatment. Further assessments took place during reviews by the multidisciplinary team.
Staff knew where to get advice regarding the Mental Capacity Act, including deprivation of liberty safeguards.
People's experience of this service
We spoke with 5 patients and 2 carers. Patients told us that most staff were nice and they were treated with kindness and respect, they felt safe on the ward and staff supported them to understand risks and how to keep themselves safe. Patients knew how to make complaints or raise concerns, 1 patient said they had made a complaint, and it was dealt with very well and quickly. Patients said they were given the opportunity to provide feedback about the service. One patient told us the management team at the hospital were amazing. Patients said they felt involved and listened to and found ward rounds very helpful. However not all patients said they had a copy of their care plan and did not feel they had the opportunity to input into it. Some patients told us that activities were not always of interest to them and could be boring.
Carers told us staff were pleasant and the hospital was a nice, clean, tidy, welcoming environment. Carers said they were able to keep in touch and see their relatives and staff supported visits home for patients. Carers knew how to make a complaint or raise concerns. However, 1 carer said the ward could be noisy and another carer said they would like more involvement in their relative’s care and treatment.