$79m boost for upgrade
Mental health services stuck at Christchurch’s derelict Princess Margaret Hospital will shift to purposebuilt facilities six years after other services there were moved.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced $79 million of funding for new Christchurch mental health facilities to rehouse the stranded services.
Ardern made the announcement yesterday with Health Minister David Clark at the Hillmorton Hospital campus, where the two buildings will be constructed.
‘‘The facilities that provide our mental health services, they need to be fit for purpose, they need to hold dignity within their walls where you do your work,’’ Ardern said. ‘‘For too long that hasn’t been the case here.’’
Construction will start next year, and is scheduled for completion in 2022. The buildings will house inpatient child, adolescent and family, eating disorders, mothers and babies, and long-term rehabilitation services. Other services moved to Burwood Hospital in 2016, while the following year then-health minister Jonathan Coleman announced moving the last of the stranded services would cost up to $57m and be completed within three years.
Clark said the budget was increased when it became clear more space was needed for mothers and their families, as well as flexible spaces for children and teenagers. But bed numbers will not increase.
The Seager Clinic, a 24-bed unit at Princess Margaret Hospital, will move into a new 16-bed high and complex-needs building at Hillmorton. The other new building, the integrated family service centre, will have 16 beds for the child, adolescent and family service, and 13 beds and five to seven cots for mothers and babies, as well as eating disorders inpatient and outpatient services.
The same number of beds are currently provided at Princess Margaret. Clark said the modern approach was for more to be done in the community and this was factored into the number of beds included in the design.
‘‘So it’s not an expansion of services at all, but it is creating a therapeutic environment and a modern environment that supports healthy wellbeing,’’ he said.
For years, health board members have stressed the urgent need for new facilities. Buildings at the Princess Margaret site, where the services are based, have been blamed for a litany of care issues.
Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) chief executive David Meates said the announcement provided a light at the end of the tunnel after years of waiting for new facilities.
‘‘With one-in-five Cantabrians accessing mental health support, this funding and the new facilities it provides can only be seen as positive news for the wellbeing and mental health of Cantabrians,’’ Meates said.
Ardern and Clark acknowledged the impact of the earthquakes on demand for mental health services.
‘‘That’s why it’s been so imperative that we get on with the job of upgrading and updating the mental health facilities here,’’ Clark said.
CDHB staff have repeatedly highlighted the inadequate nature of buildings at Hillmorton – a concern echoed by the Ombudsman after an inspection last year.
Meates said once services were relocated, the Princess Margaret Hospital site would likely be disposed of. However, this was a decision for the board at a later date, he said.
Child, adolescent and family outpatient services have not been included in the new buildings. The CDHB was progressing their future location as a separate piece of work.