1 thought on “EDP: Women’s mental health unit near Wymondham is saved from closure – but number of beds will be reduced”

  1. The 6 beds commissioned by NSFT have been used to enable female patients to be discharged early from hospital in order to reduce the acute psychiatric bed crisis in Norfolk and Suffolk; they are the so-called “decant” beds, a truly dehumanizing term. Why doesn’t NSFT retain these beds but use them as a genuine alternative to hospital admission. This would mean that people in crisis could avoid hospital admission by going to stay for a period at Ashcroft and receive treatment and support from the Trust’s Crisis Intervention and Home Treatment Team(CRHT) as they do now under the ” decant” scheme. These beds would have to be commissioned by the Clinical Commissioning Groups and be available without financial assessment to patients at risk of hospital admission. When Approved Mental Health Professioals (AMHPs) met with Aiden Thomas and Kathy Chapman to discuss our concerns about the bed crisis in 2012 we were told that the plan was to develop alternatives to hospital  admission and to enhance the CRHTs; we are still waiting.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top