NHS North West London has decided to extend the consultation on acute mental health services in Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea until Friday 16 February 2024. Extending the consultation will help us to gain more insight and feedback to the proposals that have been made to mental health services for residents in Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea. It will also give residents, service users and carers additional time to respond to the proposals.
The consultation will help us to understand what your views are on the proposals to:
- Expand the mental health crisis assessment (MHCAS) service (previously piloted at St Charles) and move it to the Gordon Hospital.
- Keep 67 inpatient beds at St Charles (as now), supplemented by the MHCAS at the Gordon Hospital with room for 12 patients, including space for 4 patients to be admitted overnight alongside a full range of community-based services.
We are considering these changes as we believe mental health care is changing – we know that supporting people to recover in the community brings better outcomes. Since opening the mental health crisis assessment service as St Charles Hospital it has seen 1,184 patients. Less than 15% of attendees were admitted to hospital and over 85% were referred on to community alternatives closer to home.
We also want to be able to provide the best possible care to our patients and at the moment facilities at the Gordon Hospital do not meet modern standards.
By providing feedback it will help us to understand how any changes made could affect you, your family, your loved ones, or someone who you are caring for. Your views will help make sure that we can provide the best possible care and support for residents in Westminster and Kensington with serious mental health needs.
As we have made clear previously, we will not be implementing any changes to mental health inpatient beds until we have an agreed mental health strategy for North West London. We have been talking to local residents in all our boroughs about the North West London strategy for several months and we expect to finalise a draft strategy soon.