Drug Scandal Mental Ward Could Move to School Site

By GRAHAM DAVIES

THE Merseyside hospital ward at the centre of a drugs scandal could be moved to a former high school site a mile away, the Daily Post can reveal.

Mental health services provided on Ebony Ward of Aintree Hospital’s Stoddart House centre, which is being investigated over claims that patients are openly dealing and using cannabis, ecstasy and cocaine, could be transferred to a specialist centre at the old Queen Mary High School site in Fazakerley.

The building, which would be converted to provide every patient with an en-suite room, is part of a pounds 171m investment which would create four other purpose-built mental health units across Merseyside.

They would replace eight mental health centres in a bid to take patients out of cramped, deteriorating buildings and allow more to be treated at home.

Executives at Mersey Care NHS Trust say the new centres, which are the subjects of a public consultation, would be designed to provide “space, privacy, security and meaningful activities”.

Service development director Elaine Winterbottom said: “The main drive behind this is that the buildings we have at the moment are just not fit for our purposes and do not provide the therapeutic environment that our service users need.

“In some cases, there is less than 50% of the space that patients need. People are sharing dormitory areas. If you’re coming in with depression, you don’t want to be cooped up in a room with five other people.”

She added: “We are developing new services to allow many people to be looked after at home, which will allow us to have fewer people coming in as patients.

“We want to provide more space for daytime activities. At the moment, our inpatient units are so small there is very little that people can do that is meaningful during the day.

“Some are just hanging around in corridors.

“One of our main aims is to move these services off busy district general hospital sites, which are designed for people with physical health problems. People aren’t able to go out to the shops, and there are no therapeutic spaces or gardens.”

Mersey Care has submitted a planning application to Liverpool City Council, which owns Queen Mary High. The school has been closed since summer 2002.

If the plans are agreed following the consultation, Aintree Hospital’s mental health services for older people would be moved to the centre, along with two of the hospital’s adult mental health wards and all services provided by Waterloo Day Hospital.

Aintree’s other mental health services, including its remaining adult wards and the on-site Windsor Clinic Alcohol Unit, would transfer to a new centre in south Sefton, although a location has yet to be decided.

Executives have not decided which site Ebony Ward would be relocated to, or whether the services it provides would be split between the two centres. The trust also plans to build a centre on the Southport General Infirmary site. It is considering two school sites in Netherley, but will not release the specific locations until a planning application has been submitted early next year.

Another unit is planned for Liverpool city centre, although no details are available.

Mersey Care chairman Steve Hawkins said”Some of Mersey Care’s buildings pre-date the NHS and few, if any, are fit for their purpose.

“I urge people to respond to this consultation exercise and take the opportunity to have their say.

“Mental health care is a crucial part of the NHS and our service users and our staff deserve better.”

The consultation paper, prepared by South Sefton Primary Care Trust (PCT), outlines four options. The preferred option is to create the five new centres. The public can also decide whether to create more or fewer than five centres, but still replace the current units.

Another choice is to retain the status quo.

The public is also asked whether community mental health staff should move into the centres or be based alongside other NHS services, such as GP surgeries p ANYONE with an interest in mental health can call 0151 284 1584 to request a feedback form which should be returned to South Sefton PCT before Monday, December 19

The centres which would close

Windsor House in the city centre

Mossley Hill Hospital p Waterloo Day Hospital

Broadgreen’s Broadoak Unit

Stoddart House at Aintree hospital

Windsor Clinic Alcohol Unit at Aintree hospital

The mental health unit at Southport General Infirmary

The Hesketh Centre in Southport