Show your support for better mental health facilities in Dorset

Plans have been submitted for building works that will improve mental health provision at St Ann’s Hospital – and Dorset HealthCare needs your support.

At the hospital site in Canford Cliffs, Poole, the aim is to:

• create a space for extra adult mental health inpatient beds
• refurbish inadequate adult and older people’s mental health inpatient accommodation (ensuring all patients have their own rooms)
• build a brand new replacement adult psychiatric intensive care unit (PICU)
• replace ‘place of safety’ suite for patient detention under the 1983 Mental Health Act.

If it gets the go-ahead, the Government-funded development would mean that seriously ill people could be cared for locally instead of being sent for specialist treatment elsewhere – potentially hundreds of miles from family and friends.

Nearby residents were invited to an open day in November to view the proposals and provide feedback, and a final set of plans has now been submitted to BCP Council.

The applications are now live on the council’s planning portal. Search for “St Anns” or the individual application reference numbers below:

• Chine Ward: APP/23/00163/F
• Crescent: APP/23/00166/F
• New Build 2: APP/23/00167/F
• Haven Ward: APP/23/00165/F         

Anna Chainey, Head of High Acuity Mental Health Services, said:

“It is well documented that there is a growing demand for mental health support, so our plans to refurbish spaces and provide extra beds would greatly improve the services we can provide in the Dorset area. The proposals would not only create new, modern treatment facilities for adults at St Ann’s, but also revamp existing ward space which is in need of modernisation.

“We hope residents of Dorset can see the benefits this will bring for those who really need it, and their families, and join us in supporting this application.”

You can visit our dedicated Future Mental Health webpage which features design images and detailed information on how these proposed facilities will improve mental health services for Dorset.

The project is part of the Government’s New Hospitals Programme, which has allocated £73.9 million to Dorset HealthCare for two new mental health building schemes.