Improving Nottinghamshire Healthcare Adult Mental Health Inpatient services
Over the last year the Trust has been looking at our inpatient unit based in Mansfield: Millbrook Mental Health Unit. It was decided that the due to environmental considerations, the unit does not meet the standards we would want to provide for our patients and service users. We have also considered national guidance and recommendations from the CQC (Care Quality Commission). Their guidance states that adults should be cared for in single accommodation with en-suite facilities. The Trust would also like to improve safety for patients and staff, improve privacy and dignity along with the therapeutic benefit of the ward environment for the wellbeing and behaviours of people requiring an inpatient stay.
This unit currently does not allow for this, the most significant reasons being:
- Dormitory accommodation on some of the wards
- The lack of outside space on the site and the poor quality of the space we do have
- It is difficult to see patients on the wards and keep them safe due to the shape of the building
- One of the wards is too large
- Patients must share bathroom facilities
- It is difficult to fully meet the need of patients who require physical healthcare or who have restricted mobility
Looking at the best way to make the required changes and improvements to modernise our adult services there are two reasons which make it impracticable:
- There is not enough space to reconstruct the site and wards
- The cost has been estimated and it is too expensive
The decision was made by the Trust Board to buy a new hospital site where we can make the changes needed for our patients, staff and visitors to receive the best services and level of care we are dedicated to giving. Adult Mental Health services will then move to this new site leaving Mental Health Services for Older People at the Millbrook site, allowing space to renovate and improve the environment.
The Trust purchased what was the St Andrews Hospital site near Mansfield. Following a period of modifications to the site, the Trust’s inpatient services for adults currently provided at Millbrook Mental Health Unit will be moved here when the new unit, renamed Sherwood Oaks, is opened later this year.
We took a tour round the site in December 2020 before refurbishment began so that you can see what the hospital looks like: