Bristol mental health wards to move to bespoke hospital

The total number of mental health inpatient beds in the region would remain at 74

Two mental health wards are due to close in Bristol with the provision moving to a bespoke hospital if the plans are approved by government.

The inpatient care currently provided at Oakwood and Mason wards at Southmead Hospital will move to Callington Road Hospital in Brislington, Bristol.

An NHS spokesman said it would be "better to have inpatient mental health care services in one place."

The project will cost the government £7.5m.

Peter Tilley, deputy finance director at the Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust said it would provide a "better care environment" and added it would be easier to recruit permanent staff "to a facility that is modern rather than old and outdated".

He added that it would take "significant" work and cost around £9m to bring the Southmead wards up to standard".

The Local Democracy Reporting Services (LDRS) said a health committee meeting heard that the current 23-bed Oakwood ward at Southmead hospital, which provides care for adults with acute mental health needs, was "cramped" with "very little therapy space".

While Mason ward, which is a designated "health-based place of safety" for people picked up by police under the Mental Health Act, was raised as a concern due to patients turning up at Southmead Hospital "unnecessarily".

Mr Tilley, who was speaking at the South Gloucestershire health overview and scrutiny committee, said work would start at the end of this year and finish in 2024 if the plans get the green light.

The report to the meeting said that the total number of mental health inpatient beds in the region would not change, but would stay the same at 74.

Committee members gave their unanimous support for the plans.