Former provost slams plans for hospital unit

THE former provost who helped open an Angus mental health unit at the centre of an axe storm believes t he move has “shamed” NHS Tayside.

Ruth Leslie Melville congratulated late health board chairman Sandy Watson at the official opening of the purpose-built Susan Carnegie Centre of Stracathro Hospital in 2012.

But the £20 million centre’s main purpose — to house acute adult i npatients in the Mulberry Unit after the Victorian Sunnyside mental hospital closed — may end on June 30 after the health board reported its preference is to house all Tayside’s i npatients at the Carseview Centre at Ninewells.

“I was there at the start as provost and remember the fanfare when it was opened,” Mrs Leslie Melville said. “It felt like yesterday – it almost was. The paint has hardly dried.

“It was designed to have the journey as an in-patient as l acking i n trauma as possible. I think it’s totally ludicrous to shove them into that overcrowded site.”

The board began a review as it was not safe to run general adult psychiatry (GAP) in-patient services at the Mulberry, Carseview and Murray Royal Hospital in Perth.

Mulberry closed temporarily in February due to a junior doctor shortage.

The decision on whether to approve public consultation from July 3 will be made in Perth on Friday.

NHS Tayside’s medical director, Professor Andrew Russell, said: “It has long been recognised that providing GAP services across three sites is not a sustainable model of care for our patients.

“We would encourage the public to take part in the consultation and share their views on the proposed future models of care for mental health and learning disabilities services i n Tayside.”