Jeremy Hunt visits mental health services at Birch Hill

Jeremy Hunt visiting mental health services at Birch Hill

Jeremy Hunt, the Secretary of State for Health, paid a visit to two Rochdale mental health services on Friday (27 January) after the Department of Health awarded £705,000 to Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust to improve services.

Mr Hunt visited two of Pennine Care’s mental health units located at the Birch Hill Hospital site to see how the funding will be used to benefit service users. He first visited Prospect Place, a unit for men who have longer term mental health problems and require rehabilitation in a secure environment. Mr Hunt also visited a ward for adults who are experiencing a mental health crisis and need to be admitted to a mental health unit for ongoing care. This ward will directly benefit from the Department of Health funding to improve its facilities.

Pennine Care has been awarded £400,000 to develop a new crisis café/sanctuary in Oldham for people experiencing a mental health crisis, instead of phoning emergency services or attending A&E. A further £300,000 has also been given to improve wards for adults and people who are detained under the Mental Health Act during a crisis.

During the visit, the Health Secretary talked with staff and service users about their experiences and the challenges facing frontline mental health services.

He said: "Staff at Pennine Care deal with some of the NHS's most vulnerable patients every day. These individuals rightly expect the best possible quality of care and services and I'm really impressed by the efforts I've seen here today to create a safe and caring environment, where patients are treated with dignity and respect."

Michael McCourt, Chief Executive, said: “It was fantastic to welcome Mr Hunt to Pennine Care; he saw examples of staff working hard to deliver excellent care, under difficult circumstances. The funding will greatly help towards improving our facilities so that we can ensure service users feel welcome and valued during what is a very difficult time in their lives.”

The funding was awarded as part of a Department of Health programme to improve places of safety for mental health across the country. Pennine Care prepared a bid for the funding in collaboration with partners from Clinical Commissioning Groups and Local Authorities.

Pennine Care provides health services to 1.3 million people in Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside and Glossop and Trafford.