I am pleased Tooting MP Sadiq Khan is querying the proposed reorganisation of mental health services in south-west London, which will lead to a 10 per cent loss of beds on top of the 10 beds cut this year despite growing local (and national) need, and to the loss of locally available services.

The South West London and St George’s Mental Health Trust claims care will not be affected because there will be a greater turnover of beds and home treatment teams will be able to support people outside of hospital. But there is no evidence to support this. Last month we heard of a mentally ill teenager being held for two nights in a cell because police could not find a psychiatric place for her.

Community Care magazine (October 16, 2013) has highlighted this shortage.

At the consultation meeting held at Springfield Hospital, we were told Queen Mary’s unit was “an Lshaped ward”, therefore, not safe and that a greater number of serious incidents occurred there compared to the other sites.

But there was no discussion of how facilities could be improved.

It seems odd that in a relatively new hospital, the unit cannot be reassigned, adapted or improved.

And the evidence on serious incidents was incomplete – there was no comparison between units regarding how many and what type of patients, the ratio of staff to patients, the actual staffing complement and their experience, etc. The real case against Queen Mary’s is that it is a private finance initiative hospital (partbuilt with private money, which the public is repaying with interest) and the Trust does not want to pay for its use.

Which also begs the question, how is it we have a hospital that an NHS provider cannot afford to use?

I hope the public will vote against all options to cut the mental health service.

SUSAN BALDING
Address supplied

 

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