Mental Health Services (Lancashire)

Ben Wallace Excerpts

Wednesday 8th December 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Ben Wallace (Wyre and Preston North) (Con)]

I am grateful to the hon. Member for Preston (Mark Hendrick) for allowing me to participate in this debate. The Avondale clinic is, of course, in my constituency. When the issue was raised by a constituent, I did my best to get to the bottom of the process before, first, forming a position and, secondly, tackling the Government and the NHS trust with some questions and requests.

I surveyed all the GPs in the north and south of Preston and in Chorley. I spoke to the professionals and visited the alternative in-patient centre in Chorley. I visited the Avondale site and spoke to many constituents to asses the key issues. The hon. Gentleman raised a number of sound concerns about the mental health trust, but I am afraid he also raised a number of partisan points. That is extraordinary—the evidence is not about that—given that much of the consultation on mental health reconfiguration started in 2006.

What I found from the surveys of GPs was absolutely clear. Although they were happy with the performance of the community mental health teams and the out-patient service that people were getting, and they were happy with settled and stable treatment in the community—many of them were very impressed by it—they were deeply worried by what was available for patients in crisis and for constituents who needed urgent referral. They found that, for people using the helpline or in serious mental difficulties, the service just was not there. There was a real gulf between what the mental health trust thought it was delivering and the experience of GPs and my constituents of what was delivered.

I have some real concerns that the closure plan trailed for Avondale unit is far too premature. At the very least, it does not take into account some of the changes to the primary care trusts and commissioning that might happen in the next few months or by next year, when the PCTs are abolished and GPs might want to use Preston capacity rather than that in Chorley. The mental health trust has not done anything like enough to answer constituents’ questions about what will be put in Avondale’s place, and how people will travel to it. The trust has talked about a shuttle but, frankly, that is not good enough.

Having visited both Chorley and Avondale, I can say that neither of them is fit for purpose. Chorley is not a great alternative to Avondale. It has had a new lick of paint, but there is nothing significantly better that would drive me to say, “Okay, on this occasion, the professionals are right. The facilities are better.” They are not; they are not outstanding. There is very little room for people to go out and walk and come to terms with some of the illnesses that they are suffering. That needs a lot more work.

In a submission to the latest consultation, I asked the trust to delay the proposal and to go back, fill that gap and ensure a seamless service for urgent referral, community care and in-patient care. Until it does that, the proposal should not be rushed through. It is very important that we ensure that the NHS reforms that the coalition Government are putting into place come to fruition and, at the same time, that patients are given the out-patient crisis support and referrals that the GPs are demanding. We also need to address GPs’ concerns. Once that is done, we will all be in a position to make a proper assessment of what is right.

However, we should not forget that Preston is a major city in Lancashire and the north-west, as the hon. Gentleman said, with a large hospital in my constituency. It would be wrong just to abandon in-patient capacity in that part of Lancashire without really thinking through the strategic impact on in-patient facilities throughout the county, and perhaps even in neighbouring counties. There are lots of black holes in Lancashire, so we must not let that happen. Let us proceed on the basis of evidence. We are not talking about a cuts-driven Government agenda. The trust has got a lot of things wrong, and it is the trust that must address them. That is what I am pressing for, and it is also why the closure of Avondale must not be proceeded with until those things at the very least have been sorted. I would like us to reconsider where the best place is in Lancashire for in-patient care.