NHS Tayside board members will meet today to consider a key stage in the radical redesign of the region’s mental health service amidst continuing fears for local units.
An appraisal which involved public engagement events across the area has identified four top options for the future – including one which would see all general adult psychiatric admissions made to a single site at a significantly refurbished Carseview in Dundee.
The Dundee facility, Moredun ward at Murray Royal Hospital in Perth and Stracathro Hospital’s Mulberry ward in Angus were included in the service redesign appraisal after health chiefs declared the current set-up as “not sustainable.”
The programme aims to identify and develop options to provide General Adult Psychiatry (GAP) inpatient services on either one or two sites in Tayside.
Angus campaigners immediately raised concerns that the Mulberry unit was the prime target and the options report going before board members at a meeting in Dundee offers only one acute admissions lifeline for the facility.
NHS Tayside said the four top options all scored extremely closely and will now be subject to further clinical appraisal, workforce review and financial scrutiny between now and December.
Once a redesign agreement is reached there will be a consultation period of three months in early 2017 before an outline business case is presented to the Scottish Government in late spring or early summer.
A final business case would then be developed.
The key recommendations of the top scoring options were:
*Single site provision for GAP acute admissions all at Carseview site with major refurbishment required.
*All patients from Dundee, Angus, Perth and Kinross requiring inpatient treatment would be admitted to Carseview.
*Moredum ward at Murray Royal relocated to Carseview site, Angus acute admission beds remain in Mulberry ward on Susan Carnegie site.
*Mulberry ward relocated to Carseview. Mulberry would be vacant ward available for alternative service use.
*Patients from Dundee, Angus, Perth and Kinross admitted to Carseview then transferred back to step down/treatment wards in each locality.
All of the options recommend that learning disability low security patients would be cared for in the Rohallion unit at Murray Royal Hospital.
The redesign will also require alternative accommodation and workshop provision for services currently provided from Strathmartine, as well as arrangements for medical cover and out of hours arrangements, depending on the chosen option.
“We were keen to work with as many stakeholders as possible to play their part in the redesign of our services to ensure we can deliver sustainable, high-quality, safe and effective care and treatment now and into the future,” said an NHS Tayside spokesperson.
