Making a mark on new mental health facilities
A special stage in the construction of the Trust’s new £21million mental health services hub for children, young people and families took place today with a steel signing ceremony for the new Perinatal Mother and Baby Unit.
The ceremony marked a significant point in the schedule for the new building, currently based at the Queen’s Medical Centre, which will see an increase in beds from 6 to 8. Patients, staff and other people involved in the project were invited to sign messages on a structural column of the building frame, giving them the chance to write messages of hope and recovery into the fabric of the building.
The new facilities will be located on an existing Trust site on Mansfield Road in Nottingham. In addition to the new Perinatal Mother and Baby Unit, the development will include a brand new Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) Adolescent Unit, which will replace the current Thorneywood Adolescent Unit on Porchester Road in Nottingham, and will result in a significant increase in beds from the current 12 to 24, with an additional 8 bed Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit.
The existing building on the site will be refurbished to create a base for CAMHS outpatient services and a new Education Facility for young people using the Adolescent Unit who are away from their own schools. A separate steel signing ceremony for the CAMHS part of the development was held at the end of last year.
Dave Manley, Clinical Director for Specialist Services at the Trust, said: “Today’s ceremony was a chance for current and former patients to come together and mark an important stage in the development of this fantastic new building. The Perinatal Mother and Baby Unit provides vital support for mums who have serious mental health problems shortly before or after having a baby. The new facilities will mean an increase in the number of beds available with access to more therapeutic indoor and outdoor spaces to aid recovery. We are very proud and excited about the whole development which we know will have a positive impact on the people who need to use these services.”
The development is being project managed by the Trust’s Capital Planning Unit and is being undertaken in partnership with Kier Construction and Gilling Dod Architects. It is due for completion in Spring 2018. For more information visit www.nottinghamshirehealthcare.nhs.uk/cyperi
