The Hawthorn Day Care Unit
Posted by Andrew Jones, MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, at 13:57, Thu 12 August 2010:
Welcome to my first post on 'Hear from your MP'. Please tell your friends as I will use this service regularly.
I am concerned about the 'temporary' closure of the Hawthorn Day Care Unit (HDU). The unit provides support for people with mental health issues and their families. I met many of the service users and their relatives and was very moved by their experiences and about what the unit means to them.
The PCT temporarily closed the unit saying that they are 'reviewing their workforce skills mix' to provide 'affordable and safe service provision'.
I believe the safest provision is for HDU to re-open. There is a clearly demonstrated need, money is not cited by the PCT as a particular problem and other support services can't provide the same kind of cover.
I have written to Janet Probert, Head of Mental Health at the PCT, asking her to provide me with a date when HDU will re-open. If we don't keep asking and keep this issue to the fore then this temporary closure may become permanent.
Andrew Jones MP 01423 529614 andrew.jones.mp@parliament.uk
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Posted by Stuart Rhodes, 14:12, Thu 12 August 2010: (Is this post abusive?) #
Harrogate appears to have a larger than average elderly and mentaly impared population. My own mother recently died after suffering increasingly with vascular dementia and spent the last 6 years of her life in specialist care in Harrogate. The authorities have to accept that we have a larger need than most other areas in the UK and provide appropriate funding and services. The projections show that as th population ages the need for mental health care is going to increase with it. Money can be saved through various means and maybe it is time the council, just like the government, started asking the public for suggestions on where we as a town can make savings to fund essential services. Stuart Rhodes
Posted by Jeff Heenan, 19:50, Thu 12 August 2010: (Is this post abusive?) #
Lets cut back on the 14 Directors shown for this hospital, and with the money saved, we can re-open the unit.
Posted by ROBERT CHERRY, 22:11, Thu 12 August 2010: (Is this post abusive?) #
I suspect there will be further closures following the upcoming spending reviews