PLANS have been outlined to build Dorset’s first psychiatric intensive care unit specifically for children and young people.

Dorset HealthCare NHS Trust is preparing to submit plans for a new building on its Alumhurst Road site in Bournemouth.

The government funded development would operate as an eight-bed psychiatric intensive care unit, forming part of the area’s child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS).

Alumhurst Road is already home to an in-patient unit, but like the rest of Dorset, is without an intensive care unit.

Chief Medical Officer doctor Faisil Sethi said: “The unit is for children and young people who are really unwell and need much more support.

“We don’t have one of these units, and in fact, there’s a real shortage of these units across the county, so there’s a really really big need out there. At the moment, children who that need that type of care are travelling long distance for it.”

“So, for the region, it’s really exciting.”

Nikita Adams, 26, knows all too well how it feels to travel for treatment; she was sectioned during her teenage years and was taken to a hospital in Slough, away from her family home in Dorset.

Bournemouth Echo: The plans were shared in an engagement event on September 5The plans were shared in an engagement event on September 5 (Image: newsquest)

She has described her experiences as “horrific” and agreed the distance made things even harder.

She said: “I think a lot of young people would agree that it feels like you’re punished for being ill.”

If approved, seriously ill young people could have the option for local care, instead of being sent for specialist treatment elsewhere – potentially far away from their loved ones.

The unit would be built on the eastern end of the Almurhurst Road site, and would see existing facilities Nightingale Court and Seastone House demolished, with their services relocated.

The plans were shared with the public on September 5, ahead of plans to submit them at the end of the month.

If all is approved, construction could begin in January 2024, with the unit ready for autumn of 2025.

Currently, construction is estimated to cost at least £12 million, and equipment around £800,000. 

The trust did submit an application for the unit in 2018, but it was refused following concerns about the lack of parking, tree loss, privacy issues and the impact it would have on the listed Herbert Hospital buildings.

Dorset HealthCare have said they made changes according to the feedback, including moving the plans to an area further from listed buildings and with fewer trees.