Older people’s mental health inpatient services – a summary of our public consultation­­

We want to know what you think about our proposal to create specialist inpatient wards for older people with dementia, and other mental health needs, in Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield.

This summary gives information about our public consultation. We want to know what you think about our proposal to create specialist inpatient wards for older people living with dementia and dedicated inpatient wards for people living with a functional mental health need (such as anxiety, depression or psychosis), in Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield.

Your views will help us make the right decision for our patients, families, carers, loved ones and our staff.

About our older people’s mental health inpatient services in Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield

Most older people diagnosed with dementia, or a functional mental health need (such as anxiety, depression or psychosis), can be cared for at home or in their usual place of residence with support from a range of community services. This means our inpatient services are there for people when:

• their mental health gets worse and more support would help,
• they need specialist support from a number of different health and care professionals, or,
• there is a risk to them and/or others.

At this time most older people with dementia are cared for on the same ward as those with functional mental health needs. These are known as mixed needs wards.

We have five older people’s mental health inpatient wards:

• Beechdale Ward, Calderdale Royal Hospital, Halifax (16 beds), mixed needs and mixed gender.
• Two wards in the Priestley Unit, Ward 19, Dewsbury and District Hospital (30 beds; 15 male beds and 15 female beds, as two separate wards), mixed needs
• The Crofton Ward, Fieldhead Hospital, Wakefield (16 beds), mixed needs and mixed gender.
• The Poplars, Hemsworth, Wakefield (which did have 15 beds but now has 12), a dementia ward, mixed gender.

The proposed options for consultation

We have done lots of work and have two possible options for where specialist older people’s mental health inpatient wards could be located.

The options do not include The Poplars ward, in Hemsworth, Wakefield, because it is no longer suitable for providing our older people’s mental health inpatient services. One main reason is that it is not near a main hospital, so it is difficult to get timely specialist care or support when needed.

The two options are set out below. The first option can be done two ways, option one (a) and option one (b).

Option one

A dementia service on Ward 19, Dewsbury and District Hospital:

• Two separate male and female wards
• 30 beds

There are two ways we could have a functional mental health needs service in option one:

Option 1a:

A functional mental health needs service:

• On Crofton Ward, Fieldhead Hospital, Wakefield. Two separate male and female wards, 26 beds, and,
• On Beechdale Ward, Calderdale Royal Hospital. One mixed gender ward, 16 beds.
• There would be 42 beds for a functional mental health needs service in total.
• Total beds – 72
• Cost to set up – £8.2m
• Cost to run each year – £9.1m

Option 1b:

A functional mental health needs service:

• On Crofton Ward, Fieldhead Hospital, Wakefield. One mixed gender ward, 22 beds, and,
• On Beechdale Ward, Calderdale Royal Hospital. One mixed gender ward, 16 beds.
• There would be 38 beds for a functional mental health needs service in total.
• This is 4 less beds than in option 1a. There would be all mixed gender wards for functional mental health needs.
• Total beds – 68
• Cost to set up – £5.5m
• Cost to run each year – £8.2m

Option two

A dementia service on Crofton Ward, Fieldhead Hospital, Wakefield:

• Two separate male and female wards
• 26 beds

A functional mental health needs service:

• On Ward 19, Dewsbury and District Hospital. Two separate male and female wards, 30 beds, and,
• On Beechdale Ward, Calderdale Royal Hospital. One mixed gender ward, 16 beds.
• There would be 46 beds for a functional mental health needs service in total.

• Total beds – 72
• Cost to setup – £8.2m
• Cost to run each year – £9.2m

Changes will improve the care we provide

Our proposal will improve conditions for staff, the care and treatment they provide and make a positive difference to our patients, their families, carers and loved ones.

Patients will get the specialist care that they need in a safe and supportive environment. This is because:

• Clinical care will meet the specific needs of patients on that ward. This includes appropriate activities, better care and the right amount of clinical input.
• Patients will be in the right place for their needs, first time. This means that patients are likely to stay on the same ward from admission through to discharge.
• The length of time that people need to stay on our wards will be shorter. Patients can build better therapeutic relationships with staff and be given more timely support and confidence to help them to live well in their community after they have been discharged.

The environment will be better suited to each patient group. This means wards will:

• Be safer with the design, layout and patient areas adapted to better meet the specific needs of patients.
• Better support wellbeing with high quality, more appropriate features to help with therapeutic care.
• Promote independence with space to encourage physical activity, movement and access to facilities to support occupation, activity and social stimulation.
• Have the right numbers of staff with the right skills and training, with specialist roles such as advanced clinical practitioners and psychology assistants.

Our staff will be better supported to give patients the specialist care they need. This means our staff can:

• Better utilise their skills to improve care.
• Access support from a wide range of health and care teams.
• Have specialist training and develop skills around dementia, and functional mental health.
• Spend more time caring for both groups of patients.
• Build better therapeutic relationships with their patients, carers and families.

Travel, transport and parking

We know that any proposed changes can have an impact on travel, transport and parking.

We want to understand what the impact would be for people getting to and from our services. We are keen to hear your views so we can capture your feedback on any impacts this may have. This will help us think about what we can do to make sure families, carers and visitors are supported.

We have looked at the impact of our proposed options on the environment. In the long term we believe they will make a positive difference, but we do know that some families and carers may need to travel further to our wards.

How to give your views

We are asking people to fill out our consultation survey, you can do this by:

• Filling out the consultation survey online: www.southwestyorkshire.nhs.uk/opsconsultation
• Posting a copy of the survey to our freepost address (you do not need a stamp). This address is printed on our consultation survey.

If you need any support or help to complete the survey, call us on our freephone number – 0800 587 2108 – and someone will be in touch to help you.

About us

This consultation is being delivered by South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (the provider of services) and NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (the commissioner of services).

Getting this information in another format

If you need this information in an alternative format or language, please email: opsconsultation@swyt.nhs.uk