- Independent mental health service
Cygnet Hospital Stevenage
Assessment report published 18 December 2025
Contents
Ratings - Acute wards for adults of working age and psychiatric intensive care units
Our view of the service
Date of on-site assessment, 30 September 2025.
Cygnet Hospital Stevenage is part of the Cygnet Health Care group which offers a range of services for individuals with mental health needs and learning disabilities. Cygnet Hospital Stevenage opened in May 2006 and consists of 4 wards, including 2 Acute wards for adults of working age and 2 Psychiatric Intensive Care Units (PICUs)
Tiffany Ward – Female acute ward
Chamberlain Ward – Female PICU
Orchid Ward – Male acute ward
Pattison Ward – Male PICU
Cygnet Hospital Stevenage is registered by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) for:
Assessment and medical treatment for persons detained under the Mental Health Act 1983.
Treatment for Disease, Disorder, and Injury.
The last inspection of Cygnet Hospital Stevenage, Acute and PICU wards took place in June 2021. This was a focussed inspection looking at Safe and Well-led key questions. At that inspection, the provider received an overall rating of good. Safe was rated as Requires Improvement and Well-led was rated as Good. We found 1 breach of Regulation 15, Premises and equipment regarding cleanliness of the environment. We did not inspect Effective, Caring and Responsive the rating for these remained the same as the previous inspection in January 2020. All three of these key questions were rated as Good.
We carried out this responsive assessment due to receiving information of concern. We assessed 33 quality statements across the Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well-led key questions.
During this assessment we spoke with staff including hospital managers, nurses and healthcare assistants. We inspected the ward environments and clinic rooms at the hospital. We observed staff and patient interactions on these wards. We reviewed patient care records, and patient prescription charts and reviewed minutes of various meetings, policies and procedures, data and documents relevant to the running of the service.
At our last assessment we rated this service as Good overall. At this assessment the rating remains good.
Mental Health Act and Mental Capacity Act Compliance
Mental Health Act
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. This training was mandatory for staff, and the compliance rate was 100% across all wards.
Staff had access to support and advice on implementing the Mental Health Act and its Code of Practice. 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.
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 notes each time. Staff made sure patients could take section 17 leave (permission to leave the hospital) when this was agreed with the responsible clinician.
There was evidence of informed consent being obtained within patient records. We reviewed patients’ medication charts and saw people detained under the Mental Health Act (MHA), had been prescribed and administered medicines in line with MHA consent to treatment authorisations.
Mental Capacity Act
Staff received and kept up to date with training in the Mental Capacity Act. Staff were required to complete mandatory training on the Mental Capacity Act. At the time of inspection, the compliance rate was 100% across all wards.
Staff assessed and recorded capacity to consent clearly each time a patient needed to make an important decision. Staff completed an assessment of each patient’s capacity to consent to admission and treatment on admission and further assessments took place as required.
People's experience of this service
We spoke with 7 patients across all 4 wards. Feedback overall was positive.
Patients told us:
The ward environment is clean.
Staff are friendly, supportive, kind and caring.
They had helpful meetings such as with their named worker, the multidisciplinary team and Care Programme Approach (CPA).
The quality of food is good.
They felt safe on the ward.
Restraint and observations were carried out appropriately.
There was a range of activities available such as arts and crafts, singing, dancing, sports sessions, yoga, and music therapy.
They received helpful psychological therapies and there was good psychological support.
Regular physical health checks took place.
Clear information was given about medications.
Consent and confidentiality were discussed regularly and when needed.
However, some patients told us they would have liked more variety of activities and more time for each activity.
The wards were short-staffed at times - ‘Need more staff to cope with patients’
One patient told us they wanted a change of environment due to the challenging behaviour on the ward.
One patient did not feel listened to with regards to their medication.
We spoke with 6 carers, across all 4 wards. Feedback was overall generally positive.
Carers told us:
Staff were supportive, helpful and polite. They treated patients and carers with kindness and respect.
They felt it was a safe, clean and welcoming environment.
There was good family involvement, opportunities to give feedback and support.
Most carers received regular updates regarding the patient’s care.
There were a range of activities including during the weekend and evenings.
Medication, care and treatment were explained clearly.
Staff respected and understood individual needs of the patient.
Patients were supported to make decisions for themselves.
Most carers were confident to complain if necessary and were aware of the complaint’s procedure.
Meeting rooms were available for visitors
However, one carer said it was difficult to get through to the ward on the phone (Tiffany ward). Another said they had difficulty in speaking to the relevant person (Chamberlain ward).
The wards could be short staffed.
Two carers said they did not receive regular updates regarding patient’s care and treatment.
Not all carers had copies of the patients’ care plan.
One carer told us they were unaware of the complaint’s procedure (Chamberlain ward). Following our visit the service has provided a carers handbook with information on how to make a complaint.