PLANS to develop a mental health hospital in Poole are due to be shared with the public later this month.
Dorset Healthcare are inviting residents to view its proposals for St Ann’s Hospital at an engagement event on Monday, November 14.
They are expected to outline a partial re-development of the site, which includes introducing a new building comprising of a seven-bed male psychiatric intensive care unit (PICU), a six-bed female PICU and a 14-bed female adult mental health unit (AMH).
There are further proposals for the Haven Ward, including a small ground floor extension, internal refurbishment, and replacement windows, as well as refurbishment works at the Chine Ward, and changes to a carparking area.
Dorset HealthCare have said it will be an environmentally sensitive project, with the plans being formed carefully to “minimise impacts on the surrounding areas”, and the buildings built in a way that contributes to the Trust’s net zero carbon targets.
Read more: New eating disorder unit to be built at St. Ann's Hospital
The development will increase the mental health inpatient capacity for Dorset, allowing people to access the help they need more quickly, whilst providing more dignity and privacy for inpatients.
St Ann’s extension will be the latest project in the Government’s New Hospitals Programme, which has allocated £67 million to Dorset HealthCare for two new mental health building schemes.
Proposals for the second of these projects, at the Alumhurst Road site in Bournemouth, were submitted earlier this month.
They outline a new psychiatric intensive care unit (PICU) for children and young people- an expansion to their child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS).
Read more: Plans submitted for new Bournemouth psychiatric care unit
Plans for St Ann’s are expect to be submitted by the end of the year. If approved, Dorset HealthCare hope to begin construction in January 2024, with patient care beginning in January 2026.
Members of the public will be able to see the plans, and timeline, in more detail at the engagement event.
They will also have an opportunity to fill out a feedback form.
For more information on attending the event visit https://www.dorsethealthcare.nhs.uk/about-us/your-future-hospital/st-anns-hospital
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