Read the following report from the campaign to save Broomhill House from closure. Broomhill House is a nurse-led open rehabilitation unit in Gedling. Campaigners were present in good numbers at the consultation meeting on Mon 17th August 2015 at 5.30pm, Gedling All Hallows Church.
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A second public consultation for the threatened closure of Broomhill Mental Health rehabilitation unit in Nottinghamshire was held this week. 100 people came to the meeting rather than the 30 anticipated by the trust, and again the trust failed to persuade people to go into small groups. [After this, the chair, a member of the Trust Board warned us that there must be no “unruly behaviour”!] Contributions from carers, service users and local people were knowledgeable, moving and informative. The Trust panel responded with platitudes, repeating their mantra that people want to be at home and would be able get care in the community as effective as Broomhill services. They even said that the closure of two out of six acute wards in Nottingham had had no detrimental effect on mental health provision! Carers explained that Broomhill was a bridge between acute wards and community living, preventing people from going back and forth from acute to community. One person said she had just been with her son who had written a suicide note because of his distress about the threatened closure.
Gary Freeman of UNISON warned this cut would not be the last and, observing that no staff had spoken, asked for assurances that there would be no comeback if staff contributed. Staff then made excellent contributions [including that The Joint Commissioning Panel for Mental Health (JCPMH) recommends one unit like Broomhill for every 300,000 people and if the plans go ahead there will only be one small rehab unit for 796,200]. A TUSC parliamentary candidate pointed out that the closure was purely about NHS cuts and called on the Trust to back the campaign and join them to demand adequate funding for mental health services in Nottinghamshire from central government. This got a very positive response.
The Friends of Broomhill campaign now plan to approach the Scrutiny Committee, put a formal report to the consultation and call for a protest against the closure.
Background:
Demonstration and Public Meeting All Hallows Church, Gedling Monday 17 August from 5pm.
Broomhill House is a Nurse led open rehabilitation unit in Gedling, Nottingham, for people with enduring and complex mental health problems. Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust want to close Broomhill down to save money (see: Save Broomhill House leaflet ).
Your presence is important! Please let people know about the meeting and come and add your voice. We can save Broomhill, and stop further cuts to NHS services.