Residents were given reassurance at a drop-in session to discuss expansion plans for Ferndene Children and Young People’s Service last week.
Residents from nearby Humbles Wood estate and the surrounding areas were invited to hear about the plans and voice any queries about developments to the site.
Implemented by the CEDAR (the Care Environment Development and Re-provision) Programme, proposals involve a reduction to the amount of beds at Ferndene from 40 to 38 and minor extensions to the rear of the building to create more therapeutic space.
Ferndene is part of Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust (CNTW), a provider of mental health and disability services.
By moving 14 medium secure beds from Alnwood, based at St Nicholas Hospital, to Ferndene, all children’s services will be together on one site, ensuring teams continue to deliver high quality care with compassion, respect, honesty and transparency.
Representatives of the CEDAR Programme met with residents at Ferndene on Wednesday 23 October to answer questions around the re-provision of the services and how this might impact them.
James Duncan, Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Finance at Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, said: “The purpose of the drop-in session was to provide information to local residents and interested parties about our proposed Planning Application at Ferndene.
“We are proposing to operate our medium secure facilities alongside the existing low secure facilities for children and young people to improve patient pathways and provide the best possible quality of care.
“The Trust has extensive experience of providing these services for young vulnerable people within the heart of local communities and is keen to engage with local residents about these proposals.”
The proposals, which are currently in the planning phase, aim to help reduce the lengths of stay for children and young people at Ferndene. Staff are focused on providing highly specialised treatment that will hopefully help young people back to living a normal and fruitful life as soon as they can. There will be an increase of staff at the site and the Trust plans to increase parking to accommodate this.
The CEDAR Programme was established to undertake the service planning and implementation of three major developments, including the re-provision of children and young people’s medium secure services.
The major developments are linked to wider regional initiatives and are really important in enabling the Trust to continue to provide these highly valued services, which aim to support and care for some of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged people in our society.