A Dundee disability care centre is set to close, with patients and staff to be moved to Perth.
Strathmartine Centre’s Inpatient Learning Disability Services are to be re-located to Murray Royal Hospital in Perth, NHS Tayside has confirmed.
The health board says the premises at the Craigmill Skill Centre, based at Strathmartine are no longer fit for purpose and the proposed move, which includes an inpatient ward within Carseview, is planned to take place a year from now.
It is hoped providing all inpatient facilities at one site will improve patients’ experience.
Site not fit for purpose
However, staff claim the Craigmill Centre site has been deliberately allowed to deteriorate for six years and they have now been presented with a fait accompli – not only for staff but for patients’ families who will have to travel to Perth to visit..
Staff say there is also not enough provision for patients to live in the community as there are large numbers throughout the region who are on delayed discharge – including one patient who has been in Carseview for five years.
They also said there has been no consultation about the move until now and they have been given just a fortnight before the process is closed and less than three weeks before the proposal goes before the health board.
One staff member said: “They’ve given no investment whatsoever to the premises over the past six years.
“Things have been raised over and over again about the state of the place and they’ve done nothing.”
Employees say concerns over the state of the site have been raised by them, as well as in various reports since 2018.
“They’ve said the cost of repairs alone is just shy of £900,000 but they’ve allowed it to get to that state deliberately,” the staff member added.
“We believe their agenda has always been to close the unit and sell the land for housing.
“Why not keep the services in Dundee, we’ve got probably one of the largest numbers of delayed discharge patients per head of population in Scotland?
“There’s no other options being considered, or if there are, they’re not telling us.”
‘Patients will suffer’ if Craigmill centre is closed
They added: “It’s an absolute disgrace what they’ve done to the service and all of these patients are being completely disregarded.”
“There’s a whole lot of staff that won’t be able to transfer to Perth, you’re going to have to get a whole new team in and that’s detrimental to the patients’ mental health.
“It’s the patients who are going to suffer from this.
“They already can’t staff Murray Royal, they appeal for staff to do shifts on a daily basis.”
Unite the union, which represents a number of affected members of staff, has said there are three major concerns for workers.
‘Hospital gone to rack and ruin’
Unite regional officer Dougie Orchardson said: “There have been quite a few meetings about this and our members are concerned about how they are going to get to Perth from Dundee, what they will be doing and how it will impact their working day, due to increased travel times.
“NHS Tayside say they are in consultation but nothing’s going to change – it will close.
“They have let the hospital go to rack and ruin and they haven’t used the money to keep the building in good condition, to the point where it is no longer feasible.
“They’ve got to look at the human element of this – how are families get to Perth to see their loved ones?”
NHS Tayside to discuss plan at meeting this month
NHS Tayside declined to answer questions surrounding the lack of investment in the Strathmartine facility or why the service could not be kept in Dundee.
A spokesperson said: “There is a long history of improvement plans for Learning Disability Services across Tayside, both inpatients and for community services.
“There was a previously approved plan to move Learning Disability inpatients to a single site as part of a clinically-led transformation programme in 2018/19.
“This was put on hold due to a number of reasons, including the Independent Inquiry into Mental Health Services and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The Mental Health and Learning Disability Whole System Improvement Programme has set out the strategic direction for Learning Disability Services which aims to reduce delayed discharges and, wherever possible, ensure that people with learning disabilities are able to live in their own accommodation in their communities.
“NHS Tayside currently provides 24 inpatient beds within the Learning Disability inpatient services from two sites – Carseview Centre in Dundee and Strathmartine Centre in Angus.
“Recent reviews highlighted that providing services at both sites does not offer the best therapeutic environment for patients or support for colleagues.
“The accommodation at Murray Royal Hospital would provide a more modern, clinically appropriate inpatient environment, with enhanced community solutions. This will significantly enhance the therapeutic environment of care for patients.”
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