Work starts on York mental health unit

Peppermill Court is to be transformed into a 24-bed adult mental health unit

Work has begun on a £1m project to provide a temporary adult mental health unit in York following the closure of Bootham Park Hospital.

Peppermill Court will house a 24-bed assessment and treatment unit. It is expected to open this summer.

Bootham Park closed after the Care Quality Commission identified a "significant risk" to patient safety.

A new hospital to replace Bootham Park is expected to open in 2019, though no decision has been made on its location.

Since its closure in September, patients have primarily had to travel to Roseberry Park in Middlesbrough to be seen.

Ruth Hill, from Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust, said developing Peppermill Court would allow it to "bring acute adult inpatient beds back to York as quickly as possible".

She said: "The inpatient beds will reopen in the summer and in the meantime we will continue to do all we can to support people who need to be admitted to our hospitals outside of York."