The Millbrook Unit IS STILL fit for purpose according to the unit’s former boss - despite NHS bosses saying it needs to close.
Peter Hayes, 79, was chairman of East Cheshire NHS Trust until he retired in 2000. He says claims that the unit is out of date are completely wrong - just a week before a 12-week public consultation into the future of mental health services in the borough is due to begin.
Mr Hayes says it is vital there are provisions for mental health in Macclesfield and that patients are not sent 40 miles away to Chester.
He said: “People keep on saying that Millbrook is not fit for purpose and it is too old, about 25 years old but it is not that old. If you look at the hospitals in Manchester, many of those have been going for much longer than Millbrook and nobody is saying that they not fit for purpose.”
Mr Hayes said that when mental health was transferred to the CWP it was not agreed that care would be moved.
He says the move will have a negative impact on patients and their families.
Mr Hayes added: “An 80 mile round trip for family members to go is far too far and means that those who would go weekly may only go once a month.
“The responsibility for mental health should not have been transferred to the CWP in the first place, it should still be with East Cheshire. It was not that patients would be moved 40 miles away to Chester, the agreement was that they would remain at Millbrook. If the CWP insists on moving patents to Chester then they should transfer the services back to East Cheshire so that they can pick up from where they left off.”
Mr Hayes added: “People should be treated at Millbrook or in their own homes. This is where they should be treated.”
The 12 week consultation will begin on Tuesday, March 6 and run until May 29.
