Mims Davies MP calls for new recruits at Antelope House after its mental health unit was outsourced to London

Eastleigh MP Mims Davies says the eight-month closure of a high dependency department at Antelope House in Southampton is a “massive blow”.

Distressed patients and families now have to travel up to 80 miles to a hospital in London.

Ms Davies is calling for scandal-hit Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust to do "everything it can" to recruit new employees.

It comes as another governor has resigned from the board of Southern Health, citing a "farcical" response to a report which highlighted the trust's failings.

As reported, Southern Health has been forced to close its 10-bed Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) the Hamtum ward in Antelope House.

Now most patients needing PICU services will be transferred to Huntercombe Hospital in Roehampton, south west London – until it reopens in March 2017.

The rest of Antelope House will remain open as normal and the trust has pledged that PICU patients will be sent to nearer centres if beds are available such as Parklands Hospital, Basingstoke.

The organisation is blaming the temporary closure on national staff shortages.

The Antelope House PICU cares for patients most deemed at risk to themselves or others due to their more serious illness and are cared for in a secure and low stimulus ward.

The PICU should have around 50 staff, but the trust has struggled to recruit half that number meaning gaps are being plugged by agency staff.

Ms Davies said: “This clearly a massive blow for patients and their families who will now have to travel to South West London for treatment.

“Its closure for eight months is removing a very valuable local resource for people who are very ill in the Southampton and Eastleigh areas and beyond.

“I fully understand Southern Health has taken this tough decision because it has been struggling to recruit new nurses for Antelope House and it must put patient safety first, but I very much urge the trust to do everything it can to ensure this ward opens again on time with the right amount of staff, so that patients and families are not making long journeys into the London suburbs.”

Trust operations director Mark Morgan stressed the closure was down to patients safety and said the organisation had "comprehensive" recruitment plans.

He stressed the importance of working closer with Ms Davies and other stakeholders to reassure patients and added: "We will continue to work closely with patients and relatives, ensuring they are kept as up to date as possible as the work progresses.

"We apologise for the disruption and any uncertainty the temporary closure has caused, but we are positive that the plan we have will result in a better, more sustainable service."