THE FUTURE

Background

Government policy in recent decades has sought to promote the inclusion of people with a learning disability in the normal life of the community. This has been supported by Equal Lives which is the learning disability report produced by the Bamford Review of Mental Health and Learning Disability Services. In line with this policy Muckamore Abbey Hospital is facing a period of major transition and change. This includes the resettlement of patients to appropriate placements in the community and the development of a smaller regional centre providing specialist inpatient assessment and treatment services in support of people living in the community. The future of Muckamore Abbey Hospital is as an 87 bedded regional treatment service. People will only be admitted to the hospital if they require inpatient treatment and then will be discharged back to their home in the community. No one will live in hospital.

Resettlement

A number of wards have closed over recent years as people have made successful moves into community living. However, in September 2007, there are still 200 people for whom community homes have yet to be found.

Service Redevelopment
The Trust's Business Case for the re-development of the Hospital Service was approved by the DHSS&PS in February 2003. This envisages the provision of a high quality assessment and treatment service for an 87bedded regional specialist hospital purpose built accommodation. Capital funding to proceed with the first phase of the hospital re-development was approved and project structures were established to take this forward. This first phase has seen the development of a 35 bedded regional specialist admissions and assessment service and a 23 bedded regional specialist forensic service (19 of which have been commissioned) in support of people with a learning disability and mental disorder living in the community. These two units were completed and commissioned in October 2006 and have been occupied since.

The proposed design of the new units is radically different from the existing facilities, which are physically institutional in nature, and are not considered to be fit for purpose. The current units were designed to the standards of the1940's/50's and reflect the limited goals and aspirations held by and for people with a learning disability at that time. The new units are more sympathetic in lay out and human in scale. They will be designed to ensure privacy and dignity with each individual having their own bedroom with ensuite toilet and bathroom. Overall this has contributed significantly to patients' self-esteem and positive self-identity and facilitates more clinically effective treatment and care.

The second phase of the Hospital Service Redevelopment, i.e. a 24 bedded Continuing Mental Illness and 10-bedded Challenging Behaviour unit commenced in January 2007 and is expected to be completed by summer of 2008.

A Business Case has been developed to move Assessment and Treatment services for children off the hospital site and reprovide this service in Belfast. It is hoped that this new purpose built facility for children will open in March 2009.

The development of the Hospital Service is not however just, or even primarily, about buildings. It envisages the development of a new model of specialist assessment and treatment service working closely with patients, their carers and community teams in providing a range of clinically effective interventions in safe, dignified and non-institutional style settings.