- Independent mental health service
Hazelwood House
Assessment report published 27 October 2025
Contents
Ratings - Forensic inpatient or secure wards
Our view of the service
Date of Assessment: 16 17 and 18 September 2025.
Priory Hospital Hazelwood House, in Heath, Derbyshire, is a low secure unit for 13 males with mental health needs. The service also supports those who have a learning disability, complex care needs and/or are on the autism spectrum. This hospital provides WAIS and ADOS assessments for patients who may be waiting for an NHS diagnosis.
The secure services offer comprehensive support to people with complex mental health needs. The service provision is modelled on the NHS secure service specification for medium and low secure services, ensuring patients are given the highest quality of care to enable quick and smooth transitions into local services, wherever possible. The service is committed to delivering clinically effective, evidence-based treatment programmes for individuals who require secure care, providing both psychological and physical security.
We assessed the service against ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ guidance to make judgements about whether the provider guaranteed people with a learning disability and/or autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted.
The service was last rated as Outstanding (published December 2018). This was an unannounced assessment, which means the provider was not told an assessment was going to be taking place beforehand. During this assessment, we looked at all quality statements across all 5 key questions. As we assessed all quality statements at this visit, the current rating reflects the findings from this assessment. We rated this service as Good.
People's experience of this service
We spoke with 5 patients and 3 relatives. Patients were positive about the quality of care and treatment they received. They felt safe, supported, and cared for by staff, who were described as kind, caring, compassionate and approachable. Staff were alert to patients’ needs and engaged with them in a respectful, and dignified way, enabling them to feel listened to and valued throughout their care and treatment journey.
Patients and their families told us staff were visible, available, and responsive to their needs by offering support, actively listening, responding promptly and appropriately. Relatives and carers told us staff communicated well with them and kept them updated about their loved ones’ care and regularly updated them with any progress made. They also felt that staff treated physical health needs with the same attention and importance as mental health.
Patients, and their families, participated in developing care, and risk management plans. A collaborative approach ensured that care was person-centred, and treatment was tailored to meet the patients’ individual needs, preferences, and circumstances.
The service offered regular therapeutic activities which were well-attended by patients, helping to promote engagement, recovery, and inclusion. Patients told us the activities supported their recovery and rehabilitation, provided good daily structure, and offered meaningful engagement which. contributed positively to their physical, mental, and emotional well-being.
Patients were given support to raise complaints or concerns, and to share feedback, they felt listened to and empowered. Patients told us the food was of good quality, with a variety of options available to them which suited individual preferences, religious or cultural needs, and specific dietary requirements.