Mental Health Services (Sutton)

Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Health – in the House of Commons at 2:30 pm on 12 May 2009.

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Photo of Phil Hope Phil Hope Minister of State (Care Services; Minister for the East Midlands), Department of Health 2:30, 12 May 2009

As the hon. Gentleman knows, Henderson hospital is temporarily closed because of falling demand and lack of clinical viability, but, as he says, that is subject to a consultation due to end on 27 July, to which organisations and individuals can of course make representations. The matter is obviously one for local decision making, but he has today drawn the House's attention to the services that he wants to be provided in future and I shall ensure that his representations are fed into that local consultation.

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Diana Menzies
Posted on 23 May 2009 9:24 am (Report this annotation)

Thank you Tom Brake for continuing to raise the issue of loss of services provided to people with complex personality disorder following the temporary closure of Henderson Hospital, and for bringing the public consultation on the provision of Tier 4 services for London, South Central, South East Coast and Eastern England to the attention of the House. I am concerned however that Phil Hope's response might lead those who know less about the context of the temporary closure to the conclusion that it was due to a simple case of falling need for the service. Henderson Hospital was full with a 6 month waiting list for admission before commissioning was devolved from NSCAG to PCTs. PCTs were also being asked to set up local out and day patient services for people with personality disorder and many chose to use the money that was devolved to them to develop these services instead, and did not agree to fund referrals to the Henderson. It is essential that these local services (Tiers 2 and 3) are developed so that there is a range of provision for people with differing needs, and some of those that used to be admitted to the Henderson may well have been able to use day services, if they had been available. However, it was also our experience that we were still referred people from areas that had 5 day/week specialist services, who needed the containment and intensive treatment that only a residential unit could provide. This is born out also by the increase in referrals to the Cassel, the only other NHS residential service for people with personality disorder in the South East, since the temporary closure of the Henderson, and the 200 or so patients using the independent sector per year, many of whom will not be in services with specialist knowledge of personality disorder. It is also the case that many areas do not yet have adequate provision of Tiers 2 and 3 services for people with personality disorder and the loss of the service at the Henderson has left fewer treatment options for those suffering from personality disorder in those areas.

The comment about clinical viability refers to the fact that a democratic therapeutic community such as the Henderson depends on there being enough residents in treatment to provide the peer input and support that encourages the development of self esteem and empowerment, so essential to their development or recovery, rather than an over reliance on staff.

I hope that this provides more clarity about the complexities of the commissioning context which contributed to the temporary closure of the Henderson. Both the Trust and the specialist commissioners denied it was their plan to close the Henderson at the time that it was announced. I think the term 'falling demand' can be misleading.

Dr Diana Menzies, Consultant Psychiatrist in Psychotherapy, Henderson Core Team.