Mental health unit faces closure threat
THE mental health unit at Macclesfield Hospital could close as part of shake-up by health bosses.
Patients go to the Millbrook Unit for therapies and treatment to help a variety of conditions.
It includes the Croft Ward which is a 15-bed inpatient ward providing specialist treatment for people with dementia.
Its Adelphi Ward cares for older people and Bollin Ward supports young adults, with conditions covered including anxiety, depression, psychosis and eating disorders.
But now the trust which runs the unit is consulting with residents on running the services from another location instead and closing the unit.
Clive Phillips, secretary of the Macclesfield branch of mental health charity Mind, said it is important for mental health services to remain in Macclesfield.
He said: “The Millbrook Unit is an important service and people are concerned about proposals to close it. It took on patients from Crewe when mental health provision stopped at Leighton Hospital and there have been plans to build a new hospital for patients from Macclesfield and Crewe.
“But we believe in local services for local people and don’t want mental health services to leave Macclesfield. The idea is to return people to the community they live in as soon as possible and the provision should be close to where they live.”
MP David Rutley, who was due to discuss the consultation with Sheena Cumisky, chief executive at CWP, at a meeting yesterday, said: “It’s vital the we continue have access to important mental health services for local residents in Macclesfield and I will continue to emphasise this in my meeting with the chief executive.”
Bosses say the consultation is necessary part of a wider shake-up of mental health services across the borough.
A spokesman for Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (CWP) said: “The Trust is facing multiple challenges including financial pressures and increased demand on services. In response, the Trust will be undertaking a wide ranging engagement and consultation process in the autumn.
“This exercise will review the delivery of mental health services for adult and older people currently commissioned from CWP in central and eastern Cheshire.
“We are at the early stages of developing a range of options for consultation.
“These will explore how we can strengthen community services and whether we can deliver inpatient care at the Millbrook Unit in a different way or from a different location. During the consultation process CWP will be inviting service users, carers, partners and the general public to help us shape the future of our services and enable us to make the best decisions for local people.”
The plans mean ending electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) which can help reverse the symptoms of mental illnesses, at the unit, which will be provided by Bowmere Hospital in Chester later this year. There will be a consultation with people who access this service.