CONTROVERSIAL plans to close nearly a third of hospital beds for people suffering from severe mental illness in Hampshire have been approved.
It means plans can now press ahead to close 24 beds at Woodhaven in Calmore along with 24 beds at the Meadows in Sarisbury Green over the next three months.
This would see the loss of 48 of the 165 acute beds currently available across the county.
Members of the health overview and scrutiny committee of Hampshire County Council yesterday said they were satisfied the change from hospital to more homebased care was “in the interests of service users and their carers.”
The decision enables the Southern Health Foundation Trust (SHFT) to move forward with their closure plan.
Concerns raised during a public consultation have been addressed by SHFT said the committee – including greater demands on family carers. But New Forest East MP Dr Julian Lewis has vowed to keep fighting to stop the Calmore closure.
In a ten-page report to Health Minister Paul Burstow, Dr Lewis is demanding an independent audit to show how many beds are used before nearly a third of them are axed.
He claims it is “wrong and dangerous” to reduce inpatient beds when they have a high occupancy rate which he says is 90 per cent.
Dr Lewis has warned of a potential increase in suicides among the mentally ill. He claims the SHFT have used “inconsistent”
and “unreliable” statistics to force through their plans – a claim the trust denies.
As previously reported, SHFT aims to save £4.8m over the next three years, £1.5m of which would be ploughed into strengthening “hospital at home” treatment.
Dr Lesley Stevens, clinical director of SHFT, told councillors there had been more vacant beds since new community care initiatives were rolled out last September. Speaking at yesterday’s meeting, she said there had been “20 to 30 empty beds which is unprecedented in the service over the last few years.”
Dr Stevens said the aim was to modernise mental health provision to better meet the needs of service users and carers.
The foundation trust plans to transform Woodhaven into a lowsecurity unit for people with complex mental health problems who are currently treated outside of the county because of lack of local provision.
Melbury Lodge in Winchester will remain open under the plans.
