A WHISTLEBLOWER has warned cutting beds at the Millbrook Unit will severely compromise patient care and threaten staff morale.
And the senior employee working in mental health services in East Cheshire, who wrote anonymously to the Macclesfield Express, said only strike action or a serious incident involving a patient would "make higher powers take note".
The letter states: "Patients and staff will be crowded into one ward, the design of which is unsuitable for such numbers, making the environment completely untherapeutic.
"The inpatient unit at Macclesfield is currently full to its already reduced capacity and patients frequently end up being admitted to other hospitals in Cheshire and Wirral due to the inadequate number of beds.
"With the further cut in bed numbers across the trust the situation will become unmanageable, compromising the standard of patient care severely and also increasing the chance of a serious incident involving a patient."
Plans to slash half the 46 acute adult beds by the end of November from Millbrook were given the go-ahead by Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Trust, who say closing "unused" beds was their preferred option in a 12-week service redesign public consultation. Reducing community teams was an alternative to meet government savings targets.
Millbrook on the Macclesfield Hospital site is a unit for people with severe mental health problems, with 23 adult beds each on Adelphi and Bollin wards.
The letter goes on to say although Community Mental Health Teams have reduced the need for inpatient beds, just 23 would be "inadequate" in Macclesfield for the need.
And the effect on staff morale would be "great".
The letter urges trust bosses to listen to patients, carers and staff and use their skills and resources to lobby government to provide adequate funding to prevent these cuts.
Peter Cubbon, trust chief executive, said: "We understand people may have concerns about the closure of beds but as we move towards more care and treatment being provided in local communities, in line with the national model, option one was the safest option available to the trust and was the most supported and the most effective option for ensuring we are still able to provide excellent clinical services within our financial parameters.
"We continue to explore, with our commissioners, what other choices might be created and funded to allow people to benefit from the expertise and skills of the trust in the future."
