Mental health is important.
"One in four will experience some kind of mental health need. All the evidence suggests that the demand for mental health care is rising, and will continue to rise. So we must find ways to provide services which deliver the greatest clinical benefits and the best possible experience for service users and carers in the most sustainable and cost-effective way," said a spokesperson.
"We need modern mental health inpatient facilities that are fit for purpose, give people the best chance to recover in the best environment, support staff to deliver high quality care, and are sustainable for the NHS in the long term.
Most of the existing mental health inpatient facilities in south west London are old, not suitable for modernisation, not designed for today's mental health care and very expensive to maintain. They do not provide a good, supportive environment for patients and carers. They make it harder for frontline staff to deliver high quality care.
We want to make sure that people and organisations have the chance to comment on these proposals, and to suggest if there are alternatives that the NHS should consider before a final decision is made. That is the purpose of this consultation."
The consultation proposes two options for the location of inpatient services:
• Option one: to establish two centres of excellence for inpatient mental health services at Springfield University Hospital and at Tolworth Hospital. Each site would provide a range of services for people living in Kingston, Merton, Sutton, Richmond and Wandsworth, and specialist services which treat people from across the country. Under this option inpatient mental health services would no longer be provided at Queen Mary’s Hospital.
• Option two: this option maintains inpatient services at three sites; Springfield University Hospital, Tolworth Hospital and Queen Mary’s Hospital. It is closer to the existing pattern of inpatient services, except that local mental health services will no longer be provided from Tolworth Hospital.
In addition, under both of these options we are also consulting on;
• Relocating some of the specialist mental health inpatient services from Springfield Hospital to Tolworth Hospital. This is because we believe that the extra space at Tolworth Hospital will enable the NHS to provide high quality accommodation at both hospitals.
• The best location for a ward for older people with age-related mental health conditions, either at Springfield University Hospital or at Tolworth Hospital.
For further information and the full consultation documents go to http://www.kingstonccg.nhs.uk/have-your-say/inpatientmentalhealthservicesinsouthwestLondoproposalsforpublicconsultation