Lincoln: Staff shortages blamed for psychiatric unit temporary closure

The temporary closure of the unit at the St George's site was necessary to ensure patient safety, the trust said

A psychiatric care unit in Lincolnshire has been forced to temporarily close due to a shortage of staff, health bosses have said.

The Hartsholme Centre in Lincoln is a 10-bed unit which provides psychiatric intensive care for men.

Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (LPFT) said staff shortages meant it was "unable to safely run all of our adult mental health wards".

The closure was necessary to ensure patient safety, a spokesperson added.

Sarah Connery, the trust's chief executive, said there had been "significant work to recruit additional staff and retain and support our current workforce".

However, she said: "We are aware staffing on our wards does not always allow us the opportunity to provide the very best care to aid patients' recovery and, while there has been no harm as a consequence, we do not want to risk the safety of our patients and staff with this continuing.

"We have therefore taken the difficult decision to reduce our current hospital services and temporarily close our smallest ward, the Hartsholme Centre, suspending new admissions with immediate effect."

Chris Higgins, director of operations at LPFT, added: "It continues to be our ambition to provide psychiatric intensive care services for both men and women in the county and this is very much intended to be a temporary closure while we stabilise our workforce and ensure our services are as resilient and safe as possible."

However, a small number of men who required higher levels of care might have to travel outside the county to access appropriate services, the trust said.

Some members of staff could also be redeployed to other units across the county, it added.