"I felt staff treated me very respectfully at all times, even when I was distressed or I didn't make sense. Communication and relationships were excellent."
Kneesworth House Hospital offers purpose-built services with medium secure, low secure, and both locked and open rehabilitation opportunities. Based in Hertfordshire in spacious grounds, Kneesworth House Hospital offers a range of specialist recovery pathways, all at one site.
Our approach
Kneesworth House is in the unique position, as a multi-faceted service, to offer complete discharge pathways to its patients. All patients are offered a 12-week individualised treatment timetable, which includes a range of clinical therapies and specialist multidisciplinary team input.
Focus on Safety
Our absolute priority is to make sure we operate safe and effective services 24/7 and that all staff understand what is required of them to make that happen. Click here to read more.
Rehabilitation and recovery services
We provide gender-specific locked and open rehabilitation services, with a key focus on developing skills for independence, supporting patients to understand their own relapse prevention strategies and reintegration back into community settings.
Our male service is split across three wards:
- Nightingale Ward – 17-bedded locked rehabilitation for acutely unwell patients
- Wortham Ward – 17-bedded locked rehabilitation for those who may require a lower stimulus environment
- The Bungalows and Swift House – 4-bedded wards which provide support in a less restrictive environment, allowing for positive risks to be taken to support a patient to be formally discharged from hospital
Our female service is split across two wards:
- Fairview Ward – 6-bedded, low stimulus, locked rehabilitation setting
- Bungalow 65 – 4-bedded open ward which supports patients in a less restrictive setting
Secure and step-down services
Male learning disability service
- Bungalow 69 – open rehabilitation
Male mental health services:
- Ermine – medium secure service (mental illness)
- Clopton – medium secure personality disorder (PD) service
- Orwell – low secure
- Nightingale – inpatient locked rehabilitation unit
- Wortham – inpatient locked rehabilitation unit
- Swift – open rehabilitation houses
- Bungalows 63 and 67 – open rehabilitation
Female mental health services:
- Wimpole – low secure mental health and PD service
- Fairview – inpatient rehabilitation unit with 6 beds
- Bungalow 65 – open rehabilitation with 4 beds
- Bourn – acute unit with 12 beds
Kneesworth House offers a wide range of clinical therapies, based on individual needs and assessment. Therapies are delivered both individually and on a group basis. Therapies include:
- Substance misuse treatment programme
- Management of sexual problematic behaviour programme: Developing New Me Part I Foundation Programme and Staying Strong Part 2 Treatment Programme
- Fire setting treatment group: Developing New Me Part I Foundation Programme and Part 2 Treatment Programme
- Various psychoeducational and skills-enhancing group programmes
- Violence offending interventions
- Various therapeutic models in individual therapy such as dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT), cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and schema therapy
Psychiatric intensive care unit (PICU)
Kneesworth House provides a female PICU service for individuals who present with significant and continued risk to themselves or others. They may also have a high absconding risk in non-secure acute environments.
This service is a 24 hours a days, 7 days a week emergency ward and patients can be admitted from A&E, the judicial system, other PICUs, community services and other mental health settings.
Enquiries and Referrals
For further information on Priory services offered to the NHS, or to make a referral, please call our dedicated 24/7 customer service centre on 0800 090 1356. Alternatively, click here to submit an enquiry form

If you are from the NHS and would like to make an Acute Mental Health referral, please call our 24 hour Customer Service Centre on