A proposed shake-up in the provision of day care services for patients with mental health needs in Kingston could leave many facing massive upheaval, a voluntary worker has warned.

South West London and St George's Mental Health Trust has produced a consultation document outlining proposals to shift patients which could result in chaos, according to one woman who works in the voluntary sector.

The trust, which runs Tolworth Hospital and provides mental health services in Kingston, said the reforms are aimed at releasing resources to improve existing services provided by the borough's day centres and to fill gaps in short term care for people with mental health needs.

In order to address that need, the trust has proposed opening an acute day unit at Tolworth Hospital. But critics say the unit would not answer the problem as it would not be a walk-in centre where people could go if they were in distress, they would have to be referred there by their GP.

People attending day centres for structured group therapy or to visit support groups run by the mental health charity Mind, could be forced to travel to other centres around the borough if the proposals are implemented.

The Comet understands that this could mean, for example, a patient receiving care at Sherwood day centre, in Kingston Hill, could be moved to Roselands Clinic, in New Malden, where they would receive the same level of care and patients needing more structured group therapy would be moved to South Place, in Surbiton.

The voluntary worker contacted the Comet after growing increasingly alarmed that the trust appeared to be pushing forward with the plans, which she described as "hastily cobbled together".

She said: "A lot of users object to going back to hospital once they have left because of all the memories it brings back.

"You can't treat human beings as a commodity. These are people, and some are very, very vulnerable people.

"They are confused and upset and many don't know whether they are coming or going."

She said clients had not been properly consulted and many may have slipped through the net because they do not regularly attend a day centre. She also feared the changes were ultimately being proposed to enable the trust to sell off empty buildings.

But the trust stressed that the proposals are still at the consultation stage and no final decisions have been made.

In a joint statement with the head of community care services in Kingston and Mental Aid Projects, the trust said: "We are working together to look at ways in which services can be provided in the future and are anxious to cause as little disruption as possible to service users, whilst ensuring that some of the gaps in existing day services in Kingston are filled, particularly an acute day service."

Ross Milne, general manager of the Kingston branch of Mind, is concerned the needs of service-users are put first and said any consideration of current services should be done from a local perspective.

January 31, 2003 10:30