Psychiatric Intensive Care (PICU)

Cygnet Health Care's Psychiatric Intensive Care Units (PICU) provide a locked, low secure environment for short term care and treatment for mental illness. We can offer a higher level of support and supervision than on the larger acute inpatient wards - by creating intensive treatment packages, in a safe, therapeutic, low stimulus setting.

We accept service users who are:

  • 18 or over
  • detained under an appropriate Section of the Mental Health Act / Order (we don't admit service users on Section 4, 5/2, 5/4 or 136)
  • experiencing difficulties which affect their wellbeing, or that of others, and which can't be assessed or treated safely in an open acute inpatient facility
  • at risk of aggression, absconding, suicide or vulnerability (for example, because they are sexually uninhibited or overactive) - because of a serious mental disorder

Our expert teams will undertake a risk assessment as soon as possible, based on current circumstances and past history, and provide a decision within one hour as to whether we can help. Once a service user is admitted, we work alongside them, within 24 hours, to develop the best plan of care and treatment.

Our aim is a short, rapid intervention to help people affected by mental illness regain a sense of control and order in their lives, so they can move to a less restrictive care setting and return home. Accommodation is provided in en-suite rooms on single sex wards.

Locations

We provide Psychiatric Intensive Care services at the following Cygnet Health hospitals: