Make views known on mental health

0:00am Fri Jan 08, 2010

There are fears the options for mental health services for older people in Newark are being overlooked.

Newark Hospital’s Friary ward, which cared for older patients with mental health problems, has been closed for about two months.

Its future and related services form part of the Newark Healthcare Review, but there is concern the options put forward for consultation are being overshadowed by those suggested for Newark’s A & E department.

A retired nurse, who worked at Friary ward, Mrs Joan Wilkinson, said: “People don’t know they had a mental health unit at Newark Hospital.”

Mrs Wilkinson (73) of Main Street, Cromwell, said she planned to make representations at the next public meeting and hoped relatives of patients who had used the ward would show their support.

The first option by NHS Nottinghamshire County is to close Friary ward permanently and use existing in-patient assessment beds at Ashfield Community Hospital, Lincoln or Grantham.

The second option would again be closure, and to transfer challenging behaviour beds to Ashfield Community Hospital and develop a small “step-down” unit in Newark.

Both options would include providing NHS day services at Byron House, Newark, and developing community services to enable more people to be supported at home longer.

Keeping in-patient mental health services for older people in Newark is not an option because services cannot meet national guidelines.

The general manager for mental health services for older people in Nottinghamshire, Mrs Andrea Ward, said Friary ward had been underused for some time, with only six to ten of the 15 beds filled over the past two years.

“We had two patients when it closed so clearly we had to make the best decision, which was to close it temporarily,” she said.

Mrs Ward works for Nottinghamshire Healthcare Trust, which is commissioned by NHS Nottinghamshire County to provides mental health services for older people.

She said care for patients with dementia was being driven by a national strategy that aimed to increase awareness, ensure early diagnosis and intervention, and radically improve quality of care.

She said: “We try to avoid admission to hospital or a nursing home.

“What happens now is that we admit people into our assessment beds only if they are particularly behaviourally disturbed or if they have a particularly complex mental health condition.”

Mrs Ward said users and carers often told them that care for older people with dementia in acute hospitals, such as Newark, was often poor because staff lacked dementia-care training.

She said they were planning to introduce specially-trained teams to work in the hospital alongside other staff to treat patients with mental health conditions admitted because they are physically unwell. They are also planning to provide similar extra specialist support for nursing homes.

She said: “We have had difficulties in staffing the unit because Newark is geographically isolated and it sits on its own outside other mental health services.

“We could put more resources into the Friary ward but we would still have difficulty in recruiting and retaining in that area. It has been a problem for a number of years.”

Mrs Ward urged people to make their voices heard during the consultation.

The wife of a man with Alzheimer’s disease who previously used Friary ward is also encouraging people to speak out.

Mrs Barbara Weaver (76) of Bowbridge Road, Newark, cannot drive and has to rely on family and friends to take her to visit her husband, Mr Arthur Weaver (75) at Ashfield Community Hospital.

She is awaiting an assessment to see if he can be moved closer to Newark.

Mrs Weaver said: “It seemed such a shame the Friary ward had to close. These services are important.

“I certainly would like to see more being done in Newark. I would like to see more support. My husband is not the only one by any means. People in Newark are being pushed anywhere.”