Speaking as he visited the new facility ahead of its opening, the Minister for Health, Michael McGimpsey said: “This new state of the art 74 bed unit will provide a therapeutic patient-centred recovery model for those individuals with mental health needs who require in-patient services.
“I am pleased that service users have been involved in the development of this building. Their involvement in the planning, delivery, monitoring and evaluation of services is a key recommendation from the Bamford Review.
"The Review has set out the vision for the future modernisation and reform of mental health and learning disability services, with an increasing emphasis on care in the community, facilitating shorter admissions to hospital and more rapid discharge. This new unit is an important step in the Southern Trust’s plans to achieve this objective.
“Improving services for mental health patients is a top priority for me. I fought hard to secure £80million over the next three years for mental health and learning disability programmes. This unit is an excellent example of how mental health facilities can be modernised.”
The Minister also congratulated staff in the Southern Trust for their excellent performance meeting tough performance targets: “I know staff across the Trust worked extremely hard to achieve these challenging targets. This was made all the more difficult because of the organisational changes taking place at the same time. I want to thank staff for their efforts in making our health and social care services something to be proud of.”
Notes to Editors:
- The Bluestone Unit is situated within the Craigavon Area Hospital site.
- The first patients will be admitted on 7 May 2008.
- Press enquiries to the DHSSPS Press Office on 028 9052 0579. Out of office hours please contact the Duty Press Officer via pager number 07699 715 440 and your call will be returned.
