TWELVE sites across York are being considered for a new mental health hospital - with the public asked to give their opinion on the proposals.

A longlist for a replacement for Bootham Park Hospital includes development of the existing site itself as well as another 11 sites of available land. The new hospital is due to open in 2019.

A meeting was held in Easingwold yesterday and two in York next week will discuss the benefits and disadvantages of each site.

York Press: SAFETY CONCERNS: Bootham Park Hospital, which is set to close

Bootham Park closed in October

Sites to be considered include:

  • The existing Bootham Park site
  • Lime Trees in Shipton Road
  • The Retreat site off Heslington Road
  • Land near Clifton Park Hospital in Rawcliffe
  • Brook Nook in Osbaldwick
  • Millfield Lane in Poppleton
  • Moorside in Monks Cross
  • An unspecified site in the Haxby Road area
  • A site in Fulford and Naburn
  • The former Lowfield school site in Acomb
  • An unspecified site in Earswick
  • An unspecified site in Boroughbridge Road

The NHS said it also has to consider its existing sites and the benefits and limitations of Peppermill Court, off Huntington Road, Meadowfields in Dringhouses, Cherry Tree House in Tang Hall, Acomb Gables and Worsley Court in Selby.

As well as focusing on the potential sites the workshop style sessions will focus on the size and number of beds needed and and best practice in building design.

Ruth Hill, director of operations for York and Selby at the Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust (TEWV), said: “This is a major development for local communities and we want to involve people, in particular service users, their carers and staff, in the design of the new hospital.

“We are in the early stages of developing proposals and this is the first opportunity for people to have their say and influence our plans.”

Bootham Park Hospital closed suddenly last autumn after the Care Quality Commission refused to re-register the hospital due to concerns about safety. Since then patients have been cared for in the community or have been allocated out-of-area beds in Middlesbrough or, primarily, in TEWV's facilities in the north east.

MP Rachael Maskell has said the service users she is in contact with strongly believe that York's mental health hospital should remain in the city centre at Bootham Park Hospital and should not be moved to the "fringes" of the city.

A temporary adult inpatient unit is due to open in Peppermill Court in July as an interim measure.

Two consultation events are being held at the Folk Hall in New Earswick on Tuesday, May 31, from 2pm to 5pm and 5.15pm to 7.15pm.

Information about the events is also available on the Trust’s website, www.tewv.nhs.uk 

To attend, members of the public need to register with Healthwatch York by emailing healthwatch@yorkcvs.org.uk or calling 01904 621 133.

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Meanwhile, MP Rachael Maskell said a Westminster meeting with the Minister of State for community and social care, Alistair Burt over the closure of Bootham Park, was a success.

The York Central MP met with the Minister on Monday following months of requests, and has subsequently arranged for him to visit the city and to meet with service users in June.

She said the minister had said "sorry to the people in York for the closure of the hospital" and there was "a recognition it had caused distress".

Speaking of the apparent inability of various different NHS organisations to work together effectively to avoid the closure, Ms Maskell said the Minster agreed with the suggestion that NHS organisations working to different jurisdictions and answerable to different bodies could be problematic.

Ms Maskell said: "The Minister said he will come in June to have a look.

"It's really needed because he has not been confronted with the issues." Ms Maskell was joined in the meeting by Tees, Esk and Wear Valley NHS Foundation Trust and Healthwatch York.