No solutions to police fears over closure plan
HEALTH chiefs have not provided solutions to potentially fatal flaws in their plans to close Burton’s Margaret Stanhope Centre, a leading opponent has claimed.
Dr Matt Long, leader of the Friends of Margaret Stanhope Forum, spoke after South Staffordshire Primary Care Trust (PCT) and South Staffordshire and Shropshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust responded to police concerns about their plans.
His comments came only a day after Burton MP Andrew Griffiths said he had been left ‘shaking his head and wondering what the health chiefs were up to’ after they failed to meet his deadline to provide ‘full’ bed occupancy data for the unit.
“While we welcome responses from health service management on the issue of figures and policing, there needs to be more substantive responses which work towards resolution of the problems that have been raised by the campaign team,” Dr Long said.
“They are responding but not resolving.”
He spoke after the health chiefs responded to concerns raised by Chief Inspector Steve Maskrey, commander of Burton Local Policing Unit, who said mentally ill patients could end up being locked in police cells if the Margaret Stanhope closed.
He also said officers feared patients ‘having to be transported increased distances’ to other centres, which would involve more police resources.
Health chiefs said they had ‘noted the issues raised about the provision of a “place of safety” and will consider these alongside all the responses to our consultation’.
“We will continue to work in partnership with the police and other agencies to ensure appropriate arrangements are in place to support and care for people with a mental illness,” they said.
The health chiefs said an operational group involving them, councils and the police met regularly ‘to deal with any issues’.
They also indicated that help and support would continue to be offered in managing psychiatric patients needing detention — ‘whatever the outcome of the consultation’ (on the future of the Margaret Stanhope).
“The forum welcomes the fact there’s a working group but let’s hear their substantive responses to the abstraction costs police would incur in having to transfer patients to other parts of the county; police fears that patients could be locked up in cells; and the massive potential for civil litigation if things go wrong,” Dr Long said.
“While they’ve not ignored Ch Insp Maskrey’s concerns, they have yet to resolve them.”
Dr Long spoke after Mr Griffiths expressed exasperation with the foundation trust’s failure to give him the Margaret Stanhope’s comprehensive daily bed occupancy figures for April 2010 to August 2011 - despite requesting them on November 29.
He repeated his threat to complain to Health Secretary Andrew Lansley unless the trust provides the figures by today at the latest.
