£25m. mental health plans are unveiled
Wednesday 29th June 2011, 2:30PM BST.
Health and Social Services minister Hunter Adam on site with the plans. (1152088)
PLANS for a new £25m. mental health facility were unveiled yesterday, after more than 20 years of discussion.
If the States approves, work could start in early 2013 and patients could be treated there within a further two years.
The building would be at the south of the Princess Elizabeth Hospital site and provide services currently found at the Castel Hospital and Bell House – as well as some at Perruque House and on Divette Ward.
However, the number of beds would be cut and the Meadows dementia day centre would go. The department is looking to incorporate a unit into either the Longue Rue House or Maison Maritaine rebuilds.
- For more details of the plans see the Guernsey Press. Click here for subscription details. Individual editions are now available online.
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Great news.
Concerned about the reduction in beds for Albecq ward though.
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20 years. That was a rather long discussion.
Clearly deciding how to provide adequate mental health services requires some reflection but 20 years?
I can’t imagine that many other areas of health care have been left languishing for such long periods.
In many case mental health issues are hidden issues but statistically 25% of us will suffer with mental health problems at some point in our lives.
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The Deputy just keeps on trying to spend our money one way or another with his hairbrained schemes and what is wrong with the Castel Hospital? How about utilising some of the wards at the P.E. that are not being used for the mentally ill. Plenty of room up there without having a separate building.
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What about the actual need for Phsyciatrists and Mental Health Professionals, none of the trained people at present seem to be of much help or knowledgable.
Also, when will they be sending Mental Health Professionals to Alderney. They pay their taxes too and certainley pay their way sufficiently to have this provided, if Guernsey can spend £25m on their services then they can provide this for Alderney too. Some people can’t travel to guernsey for treatment, there needs to be someone visiting the smaller islands!
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This is good news and I hope that when the facilities are there, there will be a fairer referral system.
I have had problems on and off for about 20 years however when I last had difficulties(in the last 4 years), I was assessed by the referral letter and somebody decided that I did not qualify for help in any form – even with the fact that I had had suicidal thoughts and was not sleeping (which concerned my GP enough to refer me when I went and asked him for help in the first place).
I ended up having to pay to see a counsellor privately as I could not get help any other way and whilst their help was very much appreciated, the stress of the extra cost involved did not help my situation where I had major concerns over money.
In improving the facilities that is only part of the problem handled and a lot more work and resources will be needed than that to give us, the people who need the service, the service they should have.
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For those moaning about the cost of this long overdue facility, surely the Castel hospital site must have a potential worth of more than £25 million? The States (in other words us taxpayers) should be looking to make a healthy profit out of this project by allowing those horrible old buildings in the Castel to be razed to the ground and replaced with a luxury residential development, including some new open market residences. Sell this no longer useful property to the highest bidder. That way everyone is a winner.
@ChannelIslander
Just to remind you that Alderney is the size of Torteval population wise. You cannot possibly expect all the facilities that are available in Guernsey (or Jersey or the UK) to be available in Alderney as well. Be satisfied that the new facilities at the Oberlands will represent a huge improvement for ALL Bailiwick residents. A dose of realism is needed on your part.
@Zelda
What century are you living in?
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In real speak, then another 4 years, (or so) before this vital issue will in force. I have lost count of the number of Health reps who have over the past 20 years prevaricated, postponed and generally sidelined those in our community and their families, suffering mental health illnesses.
Wonder who will be at the helm to finally see this through.
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Dear “Zelda” and “ChannelIslander”, can I suggest that you find out some accurate information rather than posting ill thought out or libellous comments?
To provide you with a little background information to start with:
1. if you look at the floor area alone currently in use at the Castel (and the area proposed for the new build on the PEH site) it quite clearly could not be accommodated within the very limited unused space within the current PEH buildings. Just look at the size of the plan in Hunter Adam’s hands if you doubt this (it’s a 1:200 scale plan, if you’re wondering).
2. Psychiatrists (the correct spelling) and other mental health professionals in Guernsey are highly trained and knowledgeable, and regulated by Guernsey authorities as well as UK national bodies. Plenty of patients will be able to attest to this, and to the valuable help they provide.
3. Mental health professionals do go over to Alderney.
4. No, we can’t build a £25m hospital in Alderney just like the one in Guernsey. For reasons far too numerous and obvious to go over, that would be senseless.
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I have read Islanders comment differently. I dont think they want a 25m development but just a mental health care professional to visit the island and deal with their needs.
I dont think this is currently being dealt with, it dosn’t seem that long ago that was also being discussed.
To see a mental health care professional they have to fly over to Guernsey. The size of Alderney is irrelevant. Torteval has a population of less than a thousand and Alderney is circa 2,400. People in Torteval can also see a mental health professional without a flight.
I don’t think it is a big ask personally.
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All very grand – but 25 million??! Wouldn’t the money be better spent on the patients than on the buildings?
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Martino
If it went for Sheltered Housing it would be worth considerably more than that.
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Mind over Matter, whats wrong with the Castel is its suffering from years of neglect, (the buildings) It was deemed not fit for purpose as was Oberlands House Many years ago.Castel and King Edward 7 are prime development sites. Why not invite bids for both sites. built into the deal would be you build the buildings we require at our specifications, On satisfactory completion of build you can have the sites but there has to be built social housing States spceific types and designs set into original deal. Again only upon satisfactory completion of the states housing can they build the permitted number of local market and a small number of open market houses. All at the winning bids developers cost. When all states work is done they can then concentrate on profit. This type of deal works else where so why not here.
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Cheers for that Dave. Is there any prospect of the old hospital, once the new one is built, being used for sheltered housing then?
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Thanks Dani, you understand exactly what I intended to say!
Martino:
I may have included spelling mistakes in my comment, but to be honest that is completely irrelivant!
I had not asked for a £25m mental health facility to be built in Alderney! I simply suggested that mental health proffessionals travel to Alderney on a regular basis! which in fact they do NOT do!(maybe you need to check your facts!James) Some Islanders with mental health issue’s struggle with the thought of travelling on plane or boat to get to see someone for help and no sufficient help is provided to those people.
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Martino
When it is vacated I suspect it will go back to the Property Services department, which comes under Treasury & Resources mandate. At that point they will put forward ideas about what the site could be used for, I have heard one suggestion that the Home department might put in a bid for the site and put all their functions on one site, at the moment they are scattered over several sites paying thousands in leases. My view is that with the demographic problems the island faces it should go for sheltered housing. A private developer would pay many millions I suspect for such a site. T&R might decide to go to the States and sell the site off altogether under its property rationalisation programme I can’t say what all the options might be but I do hope that the States support the new mental health facilities, as that part of HSSD has been the Cinderella of Health for too many years.
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So what you`re saying dave is that whatever it is decided to do with the Castel site there will be no benefit to the tax payer.
If it`s bought by the Home Department to centralise their functions it will cost many millions of pounds to strip it out and refurbish as fit for use. We`ll then be paying for two schemes instead of just the Mental care facility.
If it`s sold to a developer it will be sold at way under the true value and the developer will make a fortune at the cost of the tax payers of Guernsey. I think The States past record of selling our assets for next to nothing will continue because there is nobody in The States with any idea about market values and negotiations.
Want me to name a few? Here`s two for starters, Fort George site in the 60s and Guernsey Telecoms not to mention all the overspends like Beau Sejour, The New Jetty refurbishment and the new Castle slipway, Airport building, Waste disposal and other hospital projects.
If all these projects had been properly controlled then Guernsey would be well into the black and the taxpayer might have been enjoying tax cuts instead of all the extra sneeky taxes they have had to endure over the years.
Still, never mind eh? There are some States members past and present who have done alright through various connections aren`t there?
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Zelda,
Have you seen Castel Hospital? I close member of my family was there for a couple of years and I was totally disgusted by what I saw. The staff did their best but the place was a total disgrace. It is high time that Mental Halth was taken seriously on this island.
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nocon – Dave can answer for himself but it is quite clear to anyone that he is not saying that at all.
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I think this plan could be ‘mental!’as martino pointed out, nuts.
i for one could not back this plan of action for several Political reasons.
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The castel hospital is not viable anymore, Mental health needs to be taken seriuosly for once! The idea of moving the site should help to reduce the stima that surrounds mental health which would be great. This has been a long time comming, for those of you who are not happy think about if you have a mental health problem in the future where would you rather be treated? in a run down building or a nice new facility specificly built for the pourpose?????
(and yes my spelling is not good)
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@ Guernsey Fred
i heartily agree and Bravo on the puns!! :)
this is a Seriously ‘Mental’ idea, not that uncommon like when the states wanted to build a nuclear plant to serve a new man his sewage on the salary corner.
i heartily, heartily agree – Bravo and indeed “NUTS”
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Terry Langlois,
If Dave can answer for himself why have you put your nose in?
It may be clear to you that isn`t what he was saying but it is to a lot of people who are fed up with having to pay extra for incompetance and lack of forethought by The States.
Never mind my views I don`t see your views on what the Castel site could be used for or how much the tax payer would have to pay out for a conversion or the undervalued sale of the site to a developer.
You may say it is irrellevant to the topic in question but please tell us where you think the money for Mr Hunter Adam`s dream hotel for the mentally challenged patients will come from.
If you can`t put your views forward then please keep your nose out and let deputy Dave answer for himself. He`s a big boy now.
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I have no idea what the site might be used for but I can say this, if the site is sold off to the private sector it will be valued by at least 3 independent estate agents or land valuation companies in order to ascertain its true value, so your assertion that it will be sold at a price under its true value, is simply not true. If the Home department were given the site, then the Property services department at T&R would get the buildings back the Home Department occupy at present, except those that they lease of course. My view is that having the police station where it is in town was always the wrong decision and as its activities have grown, it is already too small, there is no parking for visitors. However I do not know what some future States might decide, as I said I believe it would be ideal for sheltered housing that could be developed by a private developer of in partnership with the states.
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nocon – I left Dave to answer in detail on the issue and the sole purpose of my post was to point out, as an impartial reader, that your entire post was misguided as you were misquoting Dave, either through lack of comprehension or through wilful twisting of his words. There is no point telling you my views on the issue as you clearly have trouble understanding basic English.
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Dave,
What sites are owned by HD and would the value of the sites OWNED by The home Department cover the cost of the refurbishment needed at the Castel site if they were to be sold immediatly after HD moved into the Castel?
What do you think the sale of the castel site would be worth? You have already said,
“If it went for Sheltered Housing it would be worth considerably more than that.” Go on, try putting a figure on it.
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