Mental health at the centre of the community

Published: 24 February, 2011

• WE write as multi-faith partners in delivering chaplaincy services at the Huntley Centre, a hospital offering mental health services in St Pancras. 

This is a timely moment for us to say thank you to all of the people who, together, make up the Huntley Centre community. 

Also to ask residents of Camden to consider the great contribution the centre makes to our locale, especially in this period of a 12-week public consultation by Camden and Islington Foundation Trust, which is part of the process of seeking to make best use of the resources available in mental health provision. 

The Highgate mental health centre, an impressive new hospital on Dartmouth Park Hill will continue, but there is a choice to be made about the future of two sites: Queen Mary’s House in Hampstead, and St Pancras, Camden. 

With planned reductions in the number of beds, one of these must close. 

We think the importance of a continued presence of a mental health hospital in Camden must not be overlooked. 

First, Camden is a vibrant and exciting place. With so much colour and activity, with such a cocktail of experiences surrounding us, those whose lives are complex in particular ways such as the state of their mental health, especially at times of crisis, can feel less exposed in a place like this and can feel safer. 

Second, if you are a patient in the Huntley Centre with the opportunity to leave the hospital for 30 minutes, or an hour, there is a large selection of things to do and places to go. There are shops in close proximity and other such places that can help to continue a sense of life being as normal as possible, and these are known to be places of hospitality and safety. 

Thirdly, Camden Town and its environs has been known for some long time to be a place where there is a high incidence of mental health problems. 

Having a hospital delivering mental health services in the centre of this community can only be a good thing. Mental health, like physical health, is part of all of our lives. 

To have these services delivered where the need is particularly great helps the whole community to grow in compassion and care. 

Please participate in the consultation – see www.candi.nhs.uk

FR BRUCE BATSTONE 
(C of E Chaplaincy)
IMAAM ABU SAYEED 
(Muslim Chaplaincy)
BRIAN WEISMAN 
(Jewish Chaplaincy)
The Huntley Centre, NW1