[7] Stephen Firn, former chief executive of Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust and a non-executive director of the company, was appointed to lead the healthcare division in 2022.
[10] It ordered admissions to be suspended at Knole Ward at the Cygnet Hospital at Godden Green, near Sevenoaks, which operates a tier 4 child and adolescent mental health service because of concerns about the use of seclusion and segregation.
[11] The company announced in November 2017 that it would no longer provide children and adolescents' mental health services in its regional psychiatric intensive care unit at Cygnet Hospital Woking.
In September 2020, Peter Gibson, MP for Darlington, visited Cygnet St Williams, a neuropsychiatric hospital, after it was awarded a Good rating on its first CQC inspection.
In July 2020 the company reported staff at Yew Trees hospital in Kirby-le-Soken, which had eight women with learning disabilities, to the Care Quality Commission.
That same year, the company launched a Carer, Family and Friend strategy to ensure loved ones of patients and residents have access to quality care and support.
[23] 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.
[25] 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.
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.
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 his opening speech, he remarked: "Patients deserve the very best support and Cygnet Hospital Sherwood will ensure that happens for East Midlands and Nottinghamshire men who can receive the treatment and care they need close to family and friends."
Nottingham South Labour MP, Lilian Greenwood, visited Cygnet Hospital Clifton in March 2024, and said "staff were clearly passionate about the work they do."