New mental health hospital will mean fewer have to travel
IT WILL HAVE 68 BEDS FOR MALE PATIENTS
DERBY is to get a new mental health hospital featuring dozens of modern en-suite recovery bedrooms.
Planners at Derby City Council have officially given the go-ahead for the new healthcare building on a vacant part of the current Kingsway Hospital site.
The development is to provide a total of 54 single en-suite bedrooms for males across three adult acute wards as well as 14 single ensuite bedrooms in a psychiatric intensive care unit (PICU) for males.
The PICU “will reduce the need for people who require greater level of support to travel outside of the county, which is the current arrangement”.
It will also comprise large areas of outdoor space, which is said to be a key requirement for users of the site. The layout includes a “sky garden” at first-floor level and courtyards and gardens at ground-floor level.
Information supporting the application indicates that 116 fulltime jobs would be provided within the site, with 60 staff on site at any one time.
The development will expand the Kingsway Hospital site which is already made up of individual clinical units. Units at the site include Audrey House, Cherry Tree Close, Cubley Court, Kedleston Unit and Tissington House.
Investment of £80 million has been secured to pay for the new hospital, as well as another planned site for Chesterfield.
Plans for the new facility first emerged in June last year when the Local Democracy Reporting Service reported that Derbyshire patients with severe psychiatric disorders were travelling as far as Bradford and Weston-super-Mare to get treatment due to a lack of mental health support in the county for those most in need. The new hospital will be run by the Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.
The development follows news that the Care Quality Commission (CQC) required the Trust to end the practice of service users sharing rooms within wards.
This affects the existing Radbourne Unit at Derby Royal Hospital, which accommodates 90 of the 142 adult acute inpatient service beds which the trust delivers across Derbyshire. Planning documents state “it is not feasible” to refurbish the Radbourne Unit to meet the new requirements. As such, a new mental health facility is required and refurbishment works will commence at Radbourne Unit later this year.
The works will also include the demolition of an existing warehouse and storage yard so the construction can take place.
The new hospital will be for male patients but health bosses say they are also working on plans to provide extra resources for women patients across Derby. Ifti Majid, chief executive of Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust said: “We are delighted that Derby City Council has granted the Trust planning permission for our new purpose-built mental health facilities at Kingsway Hospital. This is a hugely positive investment for the people of Derbyshire as it puts dignity and respect at the centre of the patient experience and allows us to now provide single, en-suite rooms in modern, welcoming environments to everyone who uses these services.
“As well as the new units for men, we are currently in an engagement process which we hope will enable the Audrey House unit at Kingsway Hospital to provide an ‘acute-plus’ inpatient service for women. This new service is designed to bridge the gap between acute inpatient and PICU and has been identified as a need within the county.
“We are also proposing a complete refurbishment of two wards at the Radbourne Unit, which will meet the standards of the new builds at Kingsway Hospital. These will then become female acute inpatient services, and we hope to begin these exciting developments in September 2022.
“My thanks go out to everyone who has been involved in the process so far, including the invaluable input from staff, service users and those with lived experience.”
The new hospital could open in 2024.
A Derby City Council planning statement added: “The development of a new mental health facility at Kingsway Hospital is fully supported and meets the Local Plan aspiration to improve the community’s health and wellbeing.”
This is a hugely positive investment... as it puts dignity and respect at the centre of the patient experience. Ifti Majid