Cygnet Sherwood House and Cygnet Hospital Sherwood

Ratings - Acute wards for adults of working age and psychiatric intensive care units

• Overall

  Good

• Safe

  Requires improvement

• Effective

  Good

• Caring

  Good

• Responsive

  Good

• Well-led

  Good

Our view of the service

We completed an assessment and inspection of Cygnet Sherwood House and Cygnet Hospital Sherwood between 24 March 2026 and 2 April 2026.

Cygnet Hospital Sherwood provides a psychiatric intensive care unit (PICU) for 12 men and 2 acute mental health wards for 32 men. These wards are Bramble Ward (16 Bed), and Treetops Ward (16 beds). The services provide care for men who may be informal or detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 (MHA).

On the same site the service has a 30-bed specialist high-support inpatient rehabilitation (level 2) called Sherwood House. This service was last inspected in June 2025 and is currently rated as requires improvement. We did not inspect these wards as part of this assessment.

The service registered with Care Quality Commission (CQC) on 17 November 2010 to deliver the regulated activities: Assessment or medical treatment for patients detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 and Treatment of disease, disorder, or injury. Cygnet Hospital Sherwood opened in January 2024. The service has a controlled drugs accountable officer and a Registered Manager.

At this assessment, we rated Cygnet Hospital Sherwood as Good. We found 1 breach of regulation relating to safe care and treatment.

Staff did not always assess risks to patients’ health and safety or take action to reduce those risks, which meant patients’ were not always protected from avoidable harm. The providers systems for monitoring and improving the quality and safety of the service were not always effective.

Mental Health Act

• The provider reported 100% of staff received training in the Mental Health Act and had a good understanding of the Mental Health Act, the Code of Practice and the guiding principles.
• Staff had easy access to administrative support and legal advice on implementation of the Mental Health Act and its Code of Practice. Staff knew who their Mental Health Act administrators were.
• The provider had relevant policies and procedures that reflected the most recent guidance.
• Staff had easy access to local Mental Health Act policies and procedures and to the Code of Practice.
• Patients had easy access to information about independent mental health advocacy.
• Staff explained to patients their rights under the Mental Health Act in a way that they could understand, repeated it as required and recorded that they had done it. We saw evidence of this in care records reviewed. Staff also discussed this in daily meetings.
• Staff ensured that patients were able to take Section 17 leave (permission for patients to leave hospital) when this had been granted. Staff completed section 17 leave forms correctly, including a description of what the patient was wearing.
• Staff stored copies of patients' detention papers and associated records (for example, Section 17 leave forms) correctly and so that they were available to all staff that needed access to them.

Mental Capacity Act

• The provider reported 100% of staff received training in the Mental Capacity Act and had a good understanding of the Mental Capacity Act, particularly the five statutory principles.
• The provider had a policy on the Mental Capacity Act, including deprivation of liberty safeguards. Staff were aware of the policy and had access to it.
• Staff knew where to get advice from within the provider regarding the Mental Capacity Act, including deprivation of liberty safeguards.
• Staff took all practical steps to enable patients to make their own decisions
• For patients who might have impaired mental capacity, staff assessed and recorded capacity to consent appropriately. They did this on a decision-specific basis with regard to significant decisions. We saw evidence of this in care records reviewed.
• The service had arrangements to monitor adherence to the Mental Capacity Act.
• Staff audited the application of the Mental Capacity Act and took action on any learning that resulted from it.

People's experience of this service

We observed staff responding positively to patients during our site visit. We spoke with 1 patient who said staff treated them well and behaved appropriately and respectfully. We reviewed 40 compliments from patients, families, carers and visiting professionals; all praised the care provided and highlighted staff dedication and commitment to delivering compassionate, high-quality care. One family member described the staff as “consistently helpful, supportive and kind”. We observed a ward round where patients and carers spoke positively about the service and praised the care they received.