Have your say on new £60m mental health hospital in Bedford

The public are being asked for their views on inpatient mental health care across the county which includes a £60 million new mental health hospital in Bedford.

NHS partners believe care can be improved across Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Luton through a programme which includes building a new mental health hospital at Bedford Health Village and investing £10 million in redeveloping existing inpatient services in Luton.

And they want to hear from you

Care is currently provided across four sites – and the vision is to move it to two centres – Bedford Health Village and the Luton Centre for Mental Health adjacent to the Luton & Dunstable Hospital site.

The new hospital in Bedford would also provide the first long-term inpatient site for children and young people in Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes.

The proposals would mean adults from Bedford who need to be admitted for hospital care could be admitted to the new hospital built on Bedford Health Village, adults from Luton would be admitted to Luton and adults from Central Bedfordshire would be admitted to the facility closest to home.

A Case for Change document has been produced explaining why the partners think the programme would be a good idea – and the public are now being asked for their views before the programme is taken forward.

Richard Fradgley, ELFT’s executive for integrated care, said: “We want to develop community and inpatient mental health services that deliver the best possible outcomes for the children and young people, adults and older adults that we serve.

“We think this is the right thing to do but a vital part of this process is listening to service users, carers, partners and other members of the public.”

Richard Alsop, BLMK CCG director of commissioning, contracting and transformation, said: “Bringing mental health inpatient beds back to Bedford borough is a priority for BLMK CCG, and we welcome the plans from ELFT.

“We are keen to hear the views of people with lived experience of mental health services, carers and the public as we continue to refine the plans.”

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