Two hospitals to be closed
Mental health centres could be sold as trust raises savings target
Published: 19th May, 2011
by TOM FOOT
AN historic hospital that was set up almost a century ago has been earmarked for closure, the New Journal can reveal.
Queen Mary’s House care home for dementia patients in East Heath Road, Hampstead, has been singled out for the chop by the Camden and Islington Foundation Trust – despite overwhelming opposition to the proposal in a public poll.
Bosses have been in talks for three months over whether to shut it down or close its wards at St Pancras Hospital.
The Grove Hospital, in the grounds of the Royal Free, is also being closed under drastic plans that will see a total of 95 inpatient beds for people with severe mental illness axed in a bid to make “good business sense” and save the NHS £4m.
A closure recommendation report, to be heard by Camden and Islington board members at the end of the month, states: “Reducing the number of inpatient sites, and concentrating beds on two sites, makes good business sense.”
Documents reveal that the trust is aiming to save £26m over the next three years.
“It’s disgusting,” said Shirley Franklin, chairwoman of the Defend Whittington Hospital Coalition, which is now fighting for improvements in the mental health service. “These closures will have a terrible impact on staff. They are cutting back on the day centres too, and the community care.”
The trust has recently increased the amount it wants to save over three years to £26.5m.
Both hospitals are run by the mental health authority but the buildings – Queen Mary House is prime real estate at the top of Hampstead by the Heath – are owned by the Royal Free NHS Trust.
The trust is considering selling them on the private market.
Camden and Islington Foundation Trust claim that 88 beds were “vacant” on April 11 and that “it is clearly inefficient in practical and financial terms to operate with surplus capacity”.
The board-level papers argue that the success of their Care in the Community Programme – where patients are treated at home – explains why beds are now surplus to requirements.
The number of community care teams visiting patients in Camden and Islington is being cut by 40 per cent.
It is widely known Camden and Islington patients are routinely sent to other hospitals across London because of a shortage in beds.
The New Journal revealed in November that 46 of 71 beds that were claimed to be vacant at that time had in fact been closed “temporarily” and were not available.
Concerns raised during the consultation, which drew 154 responses include:
- Beds are already full.
- Patients will be discharged too soon.
- Elderly inpatients will be unsettled by the move.
More than three quarters of the patients, carers and trust staff responding to the consultation opposed the idea of closing any inpatient beds.
Queen Mary House – a former maternity hospital for the wives of servicemen – was founded by Queen Mary in 1919 with funds donated from her Needlework Guild. When Andrew Way quit the Royal Free in 2009, the former chief executive said that whoever took over the hospital would have to consider selling Queen Mary House and building flats in the hospital’s car park, where the Grove Hospital is.
The New Journal understands the Royal Free responded to the consultation with comments that implied Queen Mary House could not be thought of as a permanent fixture.
Elderly people living in Queen Mary will be transferred to the Highgate Mental Health Centre.
“The bed guarantee is in place and will always be in place,” said a spokesman for the Camden and Islington trust.
Camden and Islington Foundation Trust are expected to rubber-stamp the proposals at a board meeting on May 26.