Access to beds at hospital based on need, not finances says chief nurse

A NOTTINGHAM councillor has questioned whether Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust has been placing finances above the needs of patients at Rampton Hospital.

- By JOE LOCKER Local Democracy Reporter

The trust runs the high-security psychiatric hospital in the village of Woodbeck.

In January 2024 the hospital was rated “inadequate” by health watchdog the Care Quality Commission (CQC), while the wider trust has been the subject of a review initiated by the health secretary following the Nottingham attacks in June 2023.

While the hospital’s rating has since improved to ‘requires improvement’ as of May, following a raft of changes, some concerns remain. These were discussed at a Nottingham City Council health scrutiny meeting on Thursday, November 20.

Councillor Georgia Power (Lab), the chair of the committee, said: “It talks [in documents] about the key areas patients, families, and carers have raised - one of them being bed capacity and access to services.