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Mental health ward to close

Emilene Coventry
2/ 1/2008

A MENTAL health ward is set to close down with the loss of 10 beds.

Health bosses say the money saved by the closure of ward 38 at Tameside Hospital will be reinvested into community services for adults with mental health problems.

But Councillor David Sweeton told Tameside Council’s health scrutiny panel he feared the move was a step backwards and referred to care in the community ‘horror stories’ of the 70s.

A spokeswoman for Pennine Care mental health trust said health workers nowadays preferred to place less emphasis on hospital care and more on caring for adults within the community.

She said: "These reductions will support reinvestment into modern community services with greater access for service users and carers.

"For instance, some resources will be reinvested to support the development of a crisis resolution home treatment team and assertive outreach team, which will create 24-hour, seven-days-a-week support for the most high-risk patients.

"Further to this, the trust has proposals for the development of specialist services such as eating disorder services and ‘talking treatments’, plus a dedicated new facility for young adults."

The changes are part of a five-year plan, which has been under debate since September last year.

The 15-bed ward is set to shut its doors in April.

Two remaining wards will be increased in size to 23 beds each, with a total loss of 10 beds.

No staff will lose their jobs as a result of the closure.

Further information on the trust’s plans can be found at www.penninecare.nhs.uk