It has 3 low to medium secure mental health facilities in Bury, Sheffield and Woking with more than 300 beds in total and employs more than 1,000 staff.
[3] It was alleged by The Daily Telegraph that Sudhir Choudhrie, one of the biggest donors to the Liberal Democrats was denied a peerage because of concerns about the treatment of patients by the group.
[5] The Morning Star described the company in January 2014 as representing "some of the worst of NHS privatisation", and pointing out that "all three of Alpha's private mental health hospitals that were inspected by the Care Quality Commission in 2013 failed to meet some standards.
"[6] The Care Quality Commission made unannounced visits in November and December 2013 to the hospital in Woking found it was failing to meet five out of the six national standards of quality and safety and issued formal warnings in respect of three of them – care and welfare of people, safeguarding people from abuse, and records as they had already been told that they needed to make a number of improvements during two previous visits.
It found that the seclusion rooms, where patients are calmed or restrained, were dirty and not equipped with adequate washing facilities or natural light.