NHS Tayside board meeting to consider mental health redesign

NHS Tayside board members will meet today to consider the radical redesign of mental health services, amid 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 status quo 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.

NHS Tayside said the four top options all scored extremely closely and will now be subject to further appraisal 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 case would then be developed.

The key recommendations of the top scoring options were:

Single-site provision for Gap acute admissions all at Carseview;

Moredun ward at Murray Royal relocated to Carseview;

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 wards in each locality.