NEWS


Mental health gets £100m windfall from new Prime Minister


M


ore than £100m will be spent building two new mental health facilities in the North West of England. In one of his first speeches as the new Prime Minister, Boris


Johnson revealed that 20 hospitals will share £850m of new funding to upgrade outdated facilities and equipment. And he confirmed a £1billion boost to NHS capital spending, enabling existing upgrade programmes to proceed and tackling the most-urgent infrastructure projects. The organisations which will benefit are Greater Manchester


Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (GMMH), which will get £72.3m to build a new adult mental health inpatient unit; and Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust, which gets £33m for a new 40-bed low-secure unit for people with learning disabilities. Health and Social Care Secretary, Matt Hancock, said of the


investment: “We owe it to patients to make sure they can get the best treatment in the best hospitals. “Today we are making a down payment for the future of NHS buildings and facilities with immediate funding for better mental health units in areas that need them the most.” GMMH will be investing the money in a replacement for its


current mental health inpatient unit, Park House, based in Crumpsall on the North Manchester General Hospital site. The unit, which currently has nine wards and 166 beds, will


be completely rebuilt to provide an outstanding environment for high-quality mental health care. Neil Thwaite, trust chief executive, said, “This funding means we can build a modern, fit-for-purpose inpatient facility which


will support our hard-working staff to provide the best care for patients. “Research shows that the environment impacts massively on


mental health and the prospects of recovery and we want to be able to give patients the best chance possible to get better. “No-one wants to be in an inpatient mental health unit, but if


they do, we want them to feel hope and optimism. “The new facility will hugely enhance the privacy and dignity of patients, providing single rooms with en-suite bathrooms, more open space, improved access to outside gardens, and places to meet with family and friends to help their recovery journey.” Mersey Care will use its cash to enhance facilities for people


with learning disabilities. A specialist learning disability low-secure unit will be


developed on the Maghull Health Park site off School Lane, replacing a current facility in Whalley, Lancashire. It will cater for men and women with a diagnosis of learning disability, autism, and comorbid conditions. The proposal is to locate it close to the new Rowan View 123- bed medium-secure unit currently being built on the site, and near to Ashworth Hospital. A trust spokesman said: “Our proposal is to build a state-of- the-art facility in Maghull which enables the best standards of accommodation and the provision of high-quality care. “This new facility will also promote the delivery of care, which reduces the length of stay for patients.”


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mhdf magazine


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