Mental inpatient beds may be moved to another site
MENTAL health beds to replace the closure-threatened Margaret Stanhope Centre could be provided at a new location completely ‘off site’ from the Queen’s Hospital, campaigners have learned.
The latest twist in the ongoing saga over the fate of the unit, based on the hospital’s Outwoods site, emerged as campaigners held a behind-closed-doors meeting with health chiefs — their last significant act ahead of next month’s ‘Dday’ on its future.
Friends of Margaret Stanhope Forum founder Dr Matt Long and fellow campaigner Gerry Chatfield met Alex Fox and Andrew Donald, chairman and director of commissioning development respectively for the Staffordshire Cluster of Primary Care Trusts (PCT).
At the meeting, the second in a month, PCT representatives said ‘significant progress’ had been made in the search for an alternative location for inpatient beds should its board vote to close the Stanhope at its meeting on March 29.
This could be on the main Queen’s Hospital site or in the form of a ‘secure house’ at a location elsewhere in Burton.
However, either option would be likely to feature a ‘small number’ of beds — significantly fewer than the current tally of 13 — and would not amount to a ‘like-for-like transfer of services’.
Dr Long told the Mail: “We were told the health chiefs were looking at various locations, both at the hospital and elsewhere.
“I genuinely feel that they have looked at this and are not just fobbing us off.
“We have always said it’s not about saving the building and the unit doesn’t have to be at the hospital, as long as it’s a secure site in Burton which is adequately staffed and with an appropriate number of beds.”
Dr Long warned that complete closure of the Stanhope, leading to Burton having no mental health beds, remained ‘a very real possibility’.
However, he said after two years of fighting, his group now faced ‘a ‘waiting game’ as the clock ticked down.
He said: “People might think we can put more pressure on or pull a rabbit out of the hat but this was our final meeting and the consultation has ended.
“We’ve done all we can and it’s now a case of waiting until March 29.
“If NHS management vote to maintain any level of institutional provision in the town, the ex-patients and carers who make up our forum will have played a huge role in scoring a moral victory — and in saving lives.”
