Ellern Mede Ridgeway

Updated 22 May 2026

We assessed Ellern Mede Ridgeway from 10 March to 15 April 2026.

Ellern Mede Ridgeway is an inpatient specialist eating disorder service for children and young people aged 8 to 18 years.

Ellern Mede Ridgeway is registered with CQC to deliver the regulated activities: Assessment or medical treatment for persons detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 and Treatment of disease, disorder or injury. The service had a Registered Manager in post.

We visited the following wards as part of the assessment:

• Lask Ward, 10 bed high dependency unit (HDU)
• Nunn Ward, 12 bed general ward
• The Cottage, 6 bed pre-discharge unit.

We assessed 1 assessment service group: Specialist eating disorder services, across all key questions and quality statements.

Updated 12 December 2025

Date of inspection: 10 March to 15 April 2026.

Ellern Mede Ridgeway is an inpatient specialist eating disorder service for children and young people aged 8 to 18 years. It is based in the London Borough of Barnet and is run by Oak Tree Forest Limited, an independent provider group.

The service provides treatment to young people with complex presentations which may combine eating disorders or disordered eating and co-occurring mental health conditions.

Ellern Mede Ridgeway admits both privately funded patients and those funded by NHS commissioners from across the UK. The hospital comprises 28 beds across 3 wards for male and female patients, some of whom are detained under the Mental Health Act 1983.

The service registered with CQC in 2011 to deliver the regulated activities: Assessment or medical treatment for persons detained under the Mental Health Act 1983; Treatment of disease, disorder or injury. There was a Registered Manager in post at the time of our inspection.

We carried out an unannounced site visit from 10 to 12 March 2026. We visited all 3 wards:

• Lask Ward, 10 bed high dependency unit (HDU)
• Nunn Ward, 12 bed general ward
• The Cottage, 6 bed pre-discharge unit.

At the time of our visit, a total of 12 patients were admitted across all wards.

We previously inspected Ellern Mede Ridgeway in 2022 and rated it good, with no breaches of regulations identified.

This inspection was comprehensive and covered all key questions and quality statements. We have combined the scores for these to achieve the overall rating. Following this inspection, the overall rating has remained good.

We found several areas of good practice. We observed caring interactions between staff and patients. Staff demonstrated a clear commitment to reducing restrictive practices. When staff used restraint as the last resort, they were trained to do so and did it safely. Safeguarding processes were comprehensive and well-embedded. Care planning was highly personalised, with young people’s voice evident throughout. Medicines were managed well and patients received the medicines they needed when they needed them. There were robust governance arrangements in place.

We also identified some areas where best practice could be improved. Inconsistencies in communication sometimes resulted in variation in how staff followed individual care plans. The care environment needed further improvement for the needs of neurodivergent patients and some work on this was ongoing. Procedures around managing risk items and patient feedback mechanisms could benefit from better clarity. Some staff reported low morale and wanted better communication and support from senior managers.

Mental Health Act and Mental Capacity Act Compliance Summary

Mental Health Act

Staff had a good understanding of the Mental Health Act (MHA), the Code of Practice and the guiding principles. Staff had access to the provider’s dedicated mental health administrator.

Patients had easy access to independent mental health advocacy, in line with their statutory rights. The independent advocate visited the service weekly. Most young people said they knew about independent advocacy and who the advocate was.

The care and treatment records we reviewed demonstrated that when patients were detained under the MHA, staff read and explained their rights and repeated this regularly.

Staff stored copies of patients' detention papers and associated records correctly and they were available to staff who needed access to them. Relevant audits took place regularly.

Staff ensured that patients were able to take Section 17 leave (permission for patients to leave hospital) when this had been granted.

Staff requested an opinion from a second opinion appointed doctor (SOAD) when necessary.

Mental Capacity Act

Staff had a good understanding of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA), with 98% having completed training in the MCA and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards.

We saw clear evidence that staff had obtained and documented consent from patients and carers appropriately. Most carers we spoke with said staff had explained consent, confidentiality and information sharing clearly.

Staff had considered Gillick competence (used to determine whether young people under 16 years of age can consent for their own treatment) or capacity for those aged over 16 years. We saw evidence that staff had assessed capacity on a decision-specific basis and documented the outcome appropriately.

Application of the MCA was part of the provider’s regular audit schedule.