Recovery plan mental health

Mental health patients in Harrogate face a 25 mile drive to receive care as health chiefs make a decision to close three hospital wards and move provision outside the district. North Yorkshire’s health watchdog has slammed a recommendation to close 34 mental health beds at Harrogate District Hospital, pushing patients as far as York or Darlington for treatment. The recommendation comes after two years of research by Harrogate District’s Clinical Commissioning Group, which buys health services for the area with funding from NHS England.Plans to build a brand new mental health unit on the Western side of town were postponed last year in light of a £14million deficit in the CCG’s budget, but have now been abandoned altogether as part of this proposal.The CCG’s governing body will meet today to make a decision on whether to close the Briary Unit, Cedar Ward and Rowan Ward at Harrogate hospital, as recommended. Councillor Jim Clark, Chair of North … [Read more...] about Plan to remove all mental health beds in Harrogate is ‘not good enough’ says watchdog

0 Have your say More vulnerable people with serious mental health problems face travelling further for treatment in Yorkshire under controversial plans to close another town’s hospital beds. NHS chiefs are recommending 34 beds in Harrogate are closed, with inpatient care likely to be to shifted 25 miles to York in 2020. The move signals the abandonment of plans to provide new state-of-the-art mental services in the town which were put on hold last year amid an emerging NHS financial crisis in the area.The shake-up will mean more treatment at home and in the community but it comes as similar inpatient services in Northallerton are closed in February.Health bosses say the plans for Harrogate are the “only financially viable option” but admit locating inpatient care outside the area is “contentious”.There are around 300 admissions a year to two outdated wards at Harrogate’s district hospital which offer crisis care and treatment … [Read more...] about Harrogate’s mental health beds could face closure

A failure to invest in mental health services for new and expectant mothers in Northern Ireland could leave thousands of women without the required support, a charity has warned. NSPCC NI voiced concern after research indicated that an increased strain was being put on midwives and health visitors across the region.The joint research conducted by NSPCC NI, the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) and the Community Practitioners and Health Visitors (CPHVA) involved a survey of 332 health visitors and midwives.The organisations highlighted that mental health issues in the period before and after birth – perinatal – is a common problem, with around 10% of mothers impacted. This equates to around 2,400 in Northern Ireland every year.Problems include depression, anxiety, post-traumatic distress disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, eating disorders and postpartum psychosis.The majority of the women affected are at the mild to moderate end of the spectrum, and will be managed in … [Read more...] about ‘New mothers in NI need mental health support’: Charity

Breanne Cook. Picture: NORFOLK AND SUFFOLK FOUNDATION TRUST (NSFT) Archant Breanne Cook has taken over as manager of the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust’s (NSFT) Recovery College, which runs courses on topics such as wellbeing and life after illness to help support patients. The courses are designed to give groups of up to 12 patients at a time information they can use in real life on how they can recover from a period of psychological illness.They are also designed to break down some of the stigma surrounding illnesses such as depression and bipolar disorder, by showing participants there are others going through the same experiences.But Ms Cook while some tutors and participants and Recovery College courses report greater acceptance of mental illness in the community at large, others believe the stigma has only increased.The former social worker believes that shows: “There is still a long way to go in terms of he stigma within the community and the … [Read more...] about Long fight ahead to defeat mental health stigma