NHS England and the Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) in Kingston, Merton, Richmond, Sutton and Wandsworth have approved plans to modernise mental health services in south west London, which will see £160 million investment into two new hospitals at Springfield and Tolworth.

The local NHS ran a consultation between September and December 2014 to propose changes to mental health inpatient services and some specialised services. The proposals mean that some of the most vulnerable people in our community will in the future be accessing facilities that will be among the best in the country once they are built. These services are run by South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust.

Some of the improvements to the proposals the commissioning bodies have agreed following feedback from consultation include:

• Keeping adult deaf services on the Springfield site due to the deaf community that has built up in this area around services.
• Increasing overall mental health spending by £20 million to £157.2 million over the next five years.
• Working with service users and families via two travel steering groups to improve travel plans and access issues.
• Improving facilities for families and carers by providing visitor rooms on every ward and overnight accommodation at Tolworth for people visiting children.
• Adding in flexibility around bed numbers with contingency for a seventh adult mental health ward.
• Working to ensure excellent education provision is in place before the children’s inpatient services open in Tolworth.
• Working on plans to use part of Barnes Hospital for outpatient clinical services.

“Building the two new state-of-the art hospitals will make sure the people who need our help can get the best care and treatment in the best facilities possible. The CCG’s commitment to invest a further £20 million in community mental health services means we will help people get better, closer to home. This will make a very real and lasting difference to the lives of all the people who use our services, and a lasting legacy for the area.

Trust I would like to thank everyone who took part in the consultation and made this possible.

 You can read the full report on the modernisation of mental health services and the independent report into the consultation here.