HAMPSHIRE health chiefs are planning a shake-up at a mental health unit in Winchester to tackle bed-blocking.

Under new proposals the 15-bed Stefano Olivieri Unit at Melbury Lodge in Winchester would no longer care for older people suffering from conditions like dementia.

Instead, Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust would reopen the ward for people with acute illnesses including depression, anxiety, schizophrenia and personality disorders – although the age range will be 60 and above.

The trust is proposing a six-month pilot scheme to begin in November with the current occupants of the ward transferred to mental health units such as the Minstead ward at Western Community Hospital, Southampton, as well as Gosport and Basingstoke.

Bosses said the scheme was created because people with “organic” conditions such as memory loss or dementia who are fit to go home are in hospital “longer than necessary” due to a lengthy discharge process.

A report from the trust to the county council said: “Over the last year we have been evaluating our bed use in older people’s mental health services.

“We now know that at any one time, between 40 and 70 per cent of all older people’s organic mental health beds are used by individuals going through the discharge process. This means that people are staying in hospital longer than is necessary.

“The proposed changes are not a move to an ‘ageless’ service where the distinctive needs of older people are not always addressed.

“We believe that a specifically trained workforce, skilled in caring for older people with functional illness and dementia, is the most appropriate way to provide an age appropriate, non-discriminatory service to older people.”

Paul Thomas, head of business management for the East Hampshire Integrated Services Division, added: “We have designed a six-month pilot project to deliver age-appropriate services based on the needs of an individual rather than their age, creating a more flexible and effective service.”

Mr Thomas said the changes will mean adults under 65 will benefit from access to more specialised nurses and elderly patients will be care for in “a more appropriate environment”.

He added: “All areas of this pilot project will be monitored and evaluated throughout which will provide us with a robust evidence base to be able to design the most appropriate and effective services for the future populations of Hampshire.”

The trust provides 137 beds across mental health units at Western Community Hospital, Southampton, Gosport War Memorial Hospital and Parklands Hospital in Basingtoke.