NHS Tayside ‘shamed’ by moves to close unit

Former provost who opened Mulberry Unit labels decision ‘ludicrous’

The impending closure of an Angus mental health unit has “shamed” NHS Tayside, a former senior politician has claimed.

The Mulberry Unit in the Susan Carnegie Centre of Stracathro Hospital is up for closure as the health board’s preferred option is for acute adult admissions to go to Dundee.

Its review of three Tayside sites – Mulberry, the Carseview Centre in Ninewells Hospital, and Murray Royal in Perth – found the current model is “not sustainable”.

A decision to take the move to public consultation will be made in Perth on Friday.

But Ruth Leslie Melville, the former provost who witnessed the £20 million centre’s official opening in April 2012, called moving all admissions to Dundee “ludicrous”.

The former provost who helped open an Angus mental health unit at the centre of an axe storm believes the 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 inpatients 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 in-patients at the Carseview Centre at Ninewells Hospital.

“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 on this building.

“It was designed to have the journey as an in-patient as lacking in trauma as possible.

“I think it’s totally ludicrous to shove them into that overcrowded site. “Shame on them.” 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 June 30.

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 in Tayside.”

Mrs Leslie Melville, a former chairwoman of Tayside Health Council, was among campaigners who fought to keep Stracathro Hospital open in 1999.

She has called on elected members on the Angus Integrated Joint Board to “dig their heels in” to retain Mulberry.

“We were getting such fantastic results in that unit,” she added.

The paint has hardly dried on this building. RUTH LESLIE MELVILLE FORMER PROVOST OF ANGUS.