Ashworth High Secure Hospital

Ashworth High Secure Hospital has 13 wards with beds for 210 patients, which are admitted via the prison service, other secure psychiatric units and occasionally directly from the community or police custody. They are admitted for assessment or detained under the Mental Health Act 1983. Patients at Ashworth will have a diagnosed mental disorder and usually represent a grave or immediate danger to themselves, others and the general public.

The average length of stay at Ashworth is 6.7 years although many patients’ stay is considerably shorter and are either transferred back to the prison system or to a lower security hospital or facility once they have been thoroughly assessed by highly trained clinicians.

Ashworth Hospital is open for patient visits during these times:

• Monday to Sunday, from 1.30pm to 3.30pm 
• Tuesday evening, from 6.15pm to 7.30pm 

We welcome families and friends of patients. If you wish to visit please contact the direct booking line on 0151 471 2300 at least 72 hours in advance. 

Visits take place in the Exchange building within the secure perimeter of Ashworth Hospital. Depending on individual patient circumstances, visitors are occasionally allowed to visit on a ward. There is free parking at Maghull Health Park.

Planning your visit

You will need to be approved as a visitor. Official visitors must be approved by the appropriate department or staff member prior to visiting the hospital in a professional capacity.

Visits can only take place if the patient consents and is well enough to take part. Visitors must comply with safety and security measures and will be asked a series of questions and requested to bring proof of identity with them.  We may make further enquiries before giving permission for a visit to take place.

All visitors are subject to the patients’ possessions policy which, for safety and security reasons, limits the type and number of items patients can have in their rooms.  It is advisable to check with staff whether an individual patient will be able to receive a specific item before any purchase is made.

When you arrive

We strongly recommended you arrive at least half an hour before your visit, to allow enough time for security procedures and escort to the visiting area.

When you arrive at the hospital visitors’ reception, you will go through a security screening measures similar to those at an airport, including:

• Walking through a metal detector arch
• Removal of coats, jackets, watches, jewellery items and sometimes footwear
• X-raying of all bags and belongings
• Each visiting person is given a rub down search over their clothing (conducted by a same sex member of staff)
• The occasional presence of a drug detection dog.

Secure lockers are provided at the visitors’ reception where you can leave prohibited items such as computers, mobile phones and sharp objects. Facilities are also available for disabled visitors and there is an interpreter service, by prior arrangement.

Visitors are not permitted to enter the hospital with food or tobacco products; you can buy drinks and snacks in the visitors’ area. Ashworth Hospital is a non-smoking NHS Hospital.

We hope you enjoy your visit and please feel free to contact us for further assistance.

Bringing Children to visit Ashworth Hospital

We are committed to supporting contact and strengthening family ties for children who are separated from their fathers and close relatives and we will support contact whenever it is in the child’s best interest and supports their wishes and feelings.

We have a dedicated member of staff who will offer guidance and a family room well equipped to meet the needs of children. A team of trained staff will be present for the visit and ensure that contact is supervised at all times.

The welfare of children is paramount and requests for contact between patients and children are carefully scrutinised to ensure the interests of the child are protected.

If you would like to give gift items to a patient, please view the patient possessions catalogue, which indicates of the types of items patients are permitted to have in their possession while they are at Ashworth Hospital. Only those items in the catalogue can be given to patients. Items may also be restricted to one per patient and are subject to change. Requests can be made to consider an item to be included in the catalogue. Gifts must be left at the visitors’ reception and are delivered to the patient after the visit.  If you need advice please contact the visitors’ reception prior to your visit.

Patients Possessions Catalogue

If you would like to give gift items to a patient, please first contact us to check with the patients possessions catalogue.

This document shows the types of items patients are permitted to have while they are at Ashworth Hospital. Only those items in the document can be given to patients. Items may also be restricted to one per patient and are subject to change.

Requests can be made to consider an item to be included in the list of permitted items. Gifts must be left at the visitors reception and will be delivered to the patient after the visit.  If you need advice please contact the visitors reception before you come.

We have 13 inpatient wards at Ashworth High Secure Hospital:

• Arnold ward
• Blake ward
• Carlyle ward
• Dickens ward
• Johnson ward
• Keats ward
• Lawrence ward
• Macaulay ward
• Newman ward
• Owen ward
• Ruskin ward
• Shelley ward
• Turner ward