Rampton high-security hospital, established in 1912 in Nottinghamshire, is one of three maximum-security psychiatric facilities in England designed to house individuals with severe mental health conditions who pose grave or immediate danger to themselves or the public. The facility also includes Ashworth in Merseyside and Broadmoor in Berkshire. These institutions have historically confined some of the country’s most notorious individuals convicted of serious crimes.
Jan Neate’s son, Jake, has been held at Rampton for eight years following the 2017 death of his partner, whom he killed while experiencing untreated paranoid schizophrenia. He was deemed mentally unfit to stand trial. Visits to her son are described by Neate as emotionally distressing, involving extensive security procedures including biometric collection and body searches. She reports receiving minimal information about his day-to-day conditions and care, including details about periods of seclusion he has experienced and injuries sustained during seizures.
Rampton has faced significant scrutiny through inspections by the Care Quality Commission. Reviews conducted between July 2019 and June 2023 documented staffing shortages, reduced therapeutic programs, extended overnight lock-ups, and safeguarding concerns. A March 2024 focused review noted improvements in staffing and reduced confinement but identified ongoing issues with medicine management procedures and concerns about dignity and respect for long-term segregated patients. The hospital’s rating was upgraded from “inadequate” to “requires improvement” in a May 2025 report, though challenges with staffing and staff support remained.
Recent attention to high-security hospitals intensified following reports that an individual convicted of killing three people in 2024 was transferred from a category A high-security prison to Broadmoor, citing mental health deterioration. The move sparked debate about security levels and prompted discussion about the appropriate treatment of individuals who have committed serious crimes while experiencing severe mental illness. These cases raise complex questions regarding mental health treatment, security, and rehabilitation within the criminal justice system.
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