Health Minister Gives Go-Ahead For New Mental Health Unit, Wales

Main Category: Mental Health
Article Date: 27 Mar 2008 - 2:00 PDT

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£21.3m development to help meet One Wales commitment to improve mental health services

Two new mental health units at Wrexham Maelor Hospital were given the green light by Health Minister Edwina Hart.

The Welsh Assembly Government is providing £21.3m funding for the two developments.

The re-development of the current mental health unit - Llwyn y Groes - will provide a 44-bed unit on the Wrexham Maelor site, creating a more therapeutic environment for patients in North East Wales.

Linked to this site will be a new 28 bedded elderly mental health unit which will provide modern, state-of-the-art services such as an activity centre, including therapeutic and activity areas and accommodation supporting hospital memory services and liaison services

The linking of the units will create an integrated facility with shared physical infrastructure and allow clinical cross over.

The units are expected to be up and running by Spring 2010.

Edwina Hart said:

"With an increasingly ageing population in Wales, improvements in mental health services are key to providing better care for the future, as we pledged in our One Wales commitments.

"The development of elderly mental health services has been identified as a priority by the Trust and, together with the improvements in community services being delivered, will mean better quality of care for patients in north east Wales."

Chief Medical Officer for Wales Dr Tony Jewell added:

"Mental health services are a priority for the Assembly Government. A revised Mental Health National Services Framework (NSF) was launched in October 2005, backed by an extra £5million a year, to help improve mental health services across Wales. This development will further improve services for patients in the north east of the country."

Michael Williams, Chair of North East Wales Trust said:

"We are delighted with this news. We believe in maintaining and improving physical and mental health which this new facility will help us to do. It will be a real boost to our community, the service users, carers and staff who have worked tirelessly to bring this facility to fruition."

Dr Giles Harborne, Consultant Psychiatrist/Clinical Director, said:

"This is great news and a real vote of confidence in staff who have worked so hard in less than fit for purpose surroundings, to deliver good quality care. A new environment will bring new opportunities to extend nurse-led acute care and enhance patient recovery."

Donald Rhead, a patient and service user representative, said:

"I have been involved in the design and planning of the new unit which I feel is architecturally inspirational and combines a futuristic outlook with a pronounced user-friendly ambience and practicality, while the elderly mental health unit has taken into consideration service users' views and opinions. This project illustrates, at the highest level, what can be achieved with management and service users working together."

Notes

The Health Minister has approved the Outline Business Case in respect of the re-development of Llwyn y Groes and the Strategic Outline Business Case in respect of the elderly mental health unit. The next stage is for North East Wales Trust to work towards the next stage of business case development and are liaising closely with WAG with a view to co-ordinating the submission of these and, subject to Ministerial approval of the business cases, a timetable for co-ordinating both builds.

The Welsh Assembly Government