Good news in bid to keep mental health ward open
CAMPAIGNERS trying to save the last adult mental health ward in the Mendip area of Somerset from closure are celebrating a partial victory.
The Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), which wants to shut the St Andrew’s Ward in Wells, has announced that it will remain open until at least summer 2022.
The bid to save St Andrew’s ward, supported by Save Somerset’s Community Services, started more than a year ago in February 2020, but the campaigning began in earnest in September when the CCG announced that the ward would be closed and the beds moved to Yeovil.
The effect on mental health of the pandemic has made campaigners feel their efforts are even more important than they would have been before coronavirus.
The CCG decision was made despite the opposition of 52% of those who responded to the consultation over the proposed closure.
In a statement on behalf of the campaign Emma King and Dave Chapple said: “We have been very pleased to note that the closure of the ward has now been put back to no earlier than summer 2022. We have also found that the CCG, under severe pressure from our campaign, has emailed councillors to put their side of the story, even though they fail to mention the results of the consultation (while making a lot of the fact a consultation was held). They also say they never send anyone out of county for treatment, but, if that is true, we know that people in crisis in the Bath and North East Somerset area are often sent hundreds of miles for treatment, when they could just travel the short distance to Wells if the facilities were available to them.
“We started the petition ( http:// chng.it/zf6Yd6g2) in September and now have 2,327 signatures and the numbers are still growing.
“We also held a march and rally in October in Wells and a day of action and suicide awareness in Wells in December. Since then, we have been visiting town and parish councils to encourage councils and councillors to write to the CCG opposing the closure. Furthermore, all the councillors in Somerset’s district and county councils have been contacted and MPs across the region.
“This closure is a Somerset-wide issue; when one rural area of Somerset loses its services, it affects us all, sets a precedent and also allows other local services to close.
“With the campaign continuing for another year, we will be keeping the petition open and encouraging people to continue to write to the CCG at somccg.fitformyfuture@nhs. net to express their opposition to this ill-thought out and very poorly timed closure.
“We will be holding another day of action/suicide awareness on Saturday, April 17 in the grounds of St John’s Church in Glastonbury High Street at 6.30-8pm.”