Mental health chiefs slam closure plans

Published on Monday 20 July 2009 10:37

MENTAL health professionals have warned that the imminent closure of a psychiatric ward at Herdmanflat Hospital in Haddington will irreversibly damage the quality of support services in East Lothian.

The acute psychiatric in-patient service at the 12-bed Garleton Ward – the only facility offering in-hospital mental health care in East Lothian – will be relocated to the Royal Edinburgh Hospital in Morningside from 4 September.

NHS Lothian officials say the move will be beneficial to mental health patients in East Lothian as it shifts the focus from hospital to home-based care.

But Ken Morrice, project manager of Tynepark Mental Health Resource Centre in Haddington, said the proposed service closure had been opposed by staff and service users during a lengthy consultation period.

He said: "There was most definitely a feeling among people that this would go ahead no matter what the outcome of the consultation was.

"We have always felt strongly that having a local in-patient service was a vital part of maintaining successful mental health services in the county, and certainly there is a collective opinion here that this will be detrimental to the needs of people."