Consultation is flawed exercise

Sir, - As a former member of the joint board for Angus Health and Social Care partnership it was made clear to the board, which had two SNP councillors, that the shortage of appropriately trained staff is the reason for the need to reduce the number of units from the three that presently exist.

The consultation process now in existence is flawed, as it does not give the retention of the excellent Mulberry Unit as an option.

My constituency MSP Mairi Gougeon has seemingly chosen to ignore the fact that a key reason for the reduction in units is the shortage of mental health staff and I call on her to admit that this is indeed a huge problem.

As an MSP she can directly lobby her party’s health minister to increase the number of mental health nurses in training.

It was also made clear to the IJB that the shortage of mental health staff is a national issue and not just confined to Tayside, so it seems to me that this shortage can be laid at the door of the Scottish Government Health Minister and her predecessor, who have failed to recruit an adequate number of mental health staff.

Angus residents are rightly and clearly appalled at this threat as closing the facility has an impact on crisis help in Angus as well as community-based care.

It is obvious the permanent closure of the Mulberry Unit will mean additional travel and costs for many patients and staff, and support from family and friends for patients will be more difficult.

I also have concerns that any threat to the Mulberry unit impacts on the Susan Carnegie and Stroke units at the hospital, which share staff and the health minster must take action to stop this.

The closure of local mental health units such as the excellent Mulberry Unit is inconsistent with the 20/20 vision of the SNP Government to treat people at home or as near to home as possible and may force people in our Angus rural communities to travel unnecessary distances to receive the treatment they need. David May. Lamondfauld Lane, Montrose.