£8m NHS low secure service opens for the people of Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield
People from Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield who need to receive NHS care in a low secure environment are to benefit from new facilities opening on 4th August 2008.
The Bretton Centre, uses modern innovative design and has been opened by South West Yorkshire Mental Health NHS Trust on the Fieldhead site, Ouchthorpe Lane, Wakefield.
The service is for men from Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield. It will provide assessment, treatment and rehabilitation of people with severe mental health conditions who require care under low secure conditions and who may have been in contact with the criminal justice system. The Bretton Centre also includes a pre discharge unit (the Ryburn Unit) and access to a dedicated Therapy and Recreation Centre (the Oasis Centre).
The Bretton Centre – the result of an £8 million investment to convert four vacant buildings – has been in development since 2006. It has been developed in response to public consultation to relocate services previously provided at the Castle Hill unit on the St Luke’s site in Huddersfield. The centre will provide an expanded service and extends the provision to include the Wakefield district for the first time.
The service will also benefit from direct access to a new therapy and recreation centre, the Oasis Centre, which has been extensively designed and planned around the needs of people who use Trust services and is due to open next month. It will include: a music studio, a fully equipped gymnasium, art and crafts room, function room, rehabilitation kitchen, IT suite, sports/recreation hall, a coffee shop and access to Patient Advice and Liaison services (PALS).
Speaking about the opening of the Bretton Centre, Trust chief executive, Steven Michael said, "I’m delighted we have opened this new facility which not only provides an enhanced service to the people of Calderdale and Kirklees but also extends provision to the Wakefield district, enabling more local people to receive NHS treatment closer to home. The new facilities will help us to provide care that meets individual needs from admission through to discharge."
To offer the best possible care the clinical team has also been expanded. It now includes an additional consultant psychiatrist; a larger psychology team; more than double the numbers in the occupational team; a dedicated drugs and alcohol worker; physiotherapy input; dietitian input and over 30 additional nurses.
Service users, their families, commissioners, GPs, MPs and NHS staff were offered the opportunity to tour the new buildings prior to opening. Joyce Catterick, Trust Chair, said, "The Bretton Centre has transformed existing space into a high quality, bright and pleasant environment for patients and staff as well as incorporating the very latest in safety security equipment. People who use the service have been involved in many of the decisions to ensure we have designed a facility that fully meets their needs. The whole service highlights how additional investment brings real benefit to local people who need NHS care."