about staffing levels at Cygnet Wing Blackheath. Improvements were still required at the CQC inspection in April 2014. In 2013 the CQC issued a warning in respect of Cygnet Hospital Bierley because the service was failing to ensure that appropriate records were kept. Cygnet was the subject of a BBC investigation that found that staff within an inpatient unit previously operated by the Danshell Group, had been taunting, provoking and scaring vulnerable people. Cygnet Acer Clinic in Chesterfield was placed in special measures in September 2019 and admissions to Cygnet Acer Clinic were suspended. At that point Newbus Grange hospital in Darlington (see below), Cygnet Hospital Ealing, Cygnet Hospital Wyke in Bradford, Cygnet Hospital Coventry and Cygnet Hospital Colchester were also in special measures. After its eighth site, Cygnet Acer Clinic in Derbyshire, was rated "inadequate" in just over a year the company accused the CQC of publishing an "inaccurate picture". The CQC found three-quarters of nursing staff at the Clinic, which provides treatment for 28 female patients with personality disorders and who self-harm, were unqualified, and suspended admissions. After an assessment of its leadership CQC inspectors said they could not find a "clear line of accountability" across the provider's 140 locations. They said most of the company's services were rated as "good" and some as "outstanding". They found that checks to make sure the directors and board members were 'fit and proper' "had not been carried out" and there was no evidence of references having been taken up during recruitment or that insolvency and bankruptcy searches were done. Cygnet commissioned a corporate governance review by an independent person and took action to make improvements. In response to the CQC review, Cygnet said in a letter published by the BMJ that, following checks verified by lawyers, it was satisfied it was fully compliant and there were no issues around directors' capability, experience, or qualifications. In April 2021 the company was warned by NHS England that it would not tolerate its repeated service failures in the dozen sites which are directly commissioned by NHSE. In August 2021 it was warned to make rapid improvement actions, which "includes halting further growth plans, while they focus on rapidly delivering patient safety improvements". See also Mental health in the United Kingdom External links Cygnet Health Care Quality Commission References Mental health organisations in the United Kingdom Private providers of NHS services Companies based in