Regulator Probes Healthcare Charity Over Concerns

St Andrew's Healthcare is a charitable provider of specialist mental healthcare. It was registered with the Charity Commission in 2004.

In August 2025, in line with the Commission's published guidance , the charity submitted a serious incident report, concerning potential mistreatment of patients at the charity's Northampton site which it had referred to the police for investigation. The charity subsequently updated its report with further developments.

In March 2026, the Commission opened a regulatory compliance case into St Andrew's Healthcare to assess concerns about the oversight of safeguarding provision by the trustees of the charity, the financial viability of the charity and the wider governance, management and administration of the charity by its trustees.

Due to these ongoing concerns, the regulator has now escalated its engagement with the charity to a statutory inquiry.

The inquiry will examine the extent to which the trustees are complying or have complied with their legal duties in respect of the administration, governance and management of the charity, with particular regard to:

• the extent to which the current trustees are engaging and cooperating with relevant regulators, including the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and NHS England

• the adequacy of governance processes which currently oversee the charity, and the extent to which these can address ongoing concerns, including those related to safeguarding, the provision of care and financial oversight

• the future viability/status of the charity and issues related to any proposed changes to its structure, objects and functions
• the extent of any reputational harm caused to the charity

The Commission may extend the scope of the inquiry if additional  regulatory issues emerge.   

It is the Commission's usual policy, after it has concluded an inquiry, to publish a report detailing the issues examined, any action taken, and the inquiry's outcomes.