A PSYCHIATRIC hospital in Dorset has no intensive care beds for women and routinely sends patients hundreds of miles for treatment – at a cost of more than £1.8million in the last year.

Dorset HealthCare University Foundation Trust admitted it has just five intensive psychiatric care beds in the county, all based at St Ann’s Hospital in Canford Cliffs, Poole, and none are used for females.

In the last year the lack of facilities resulted in patients being transferred as far away as Bradford in Yorkshire, Cheadle in Greater Manchester and other institutions scattered across the country on 60 separate occasions.

Of the £1,875,031 paid to other care providers between September 2013 and September 2014, more than £1.4million was handed to private company Cygnet Health Care – with just 11.5 per cent of the total money spent staying in the NHS.

While St Ann’s does have some facilities for women it is the absence of intensive care beds which has caused concern.

A parent with a daughter at St Ann’s said the service for women was ‘like something from the dark ages’, branding the facilities ‘disgusting’.

“They only told me she would be transferred to Bradford 30 minutes before they took her away by ambulance,” she added.

“She was so far away from her family and we desperately wanted to be by her side.”

After complaining, she said the next time her daughter required intensive treatment she was taken to a facility in London.

Asked how much each ambulance journey to make such a transfer costs, Dorset Healthcare said it ‘varies’ and the number of staff used to accompany patients is ‘determined by a full risk assessment’.

Such a transfer is ‘always a last resort’, said a spokesman.

THE non-existence of beds for women suffering with serious mental illness in Dorset is a ‘matter of inequality’, according to an MP.

Annette Brooke, MP for North Poole and Mid Dorset, raised the issue in parliament after being contacted by two affected families and met with health minister Norman Lamb to discuss increased funding.

She said the situation is ‘appalling’ and extra money is needed urgently.

“Mental healthcare in this country has been grossly underfunded for years. It is a matter of speaking up – we have got to have our own provision in Dorset,” she added.

She said Mr Lamb has now written to Dorset HealthCare to address the issues.

After meeting with the trust’s management, Mrs Brooke said she was confident there was a ‘real determination to improve’.

Director says lack of beds for women is ‘unacceptable’

Eugine Yafele, lead director for mental health at Dorset HealthCare, said: “It is unacceptable that there are currently no psychiatric intensive care beds available for women in Dorset.

“We are already taking steps to change this and are working towards finalising detailed plans by Christmas to have beds in Dorset as soon as possible.

“Transferring someone away from their home when they are unwell is always a last resort after all local options for care have been exhausted.

“If we send someone out of the county, we will always try to find an available bed as close to Dorset as possible and if a person is out of the area we stay closely involved in their care with the priority to bring them back as soon as clinically possible.

“We have recognised that improvements are needed in some of our mental health inpatient services.

“We have already agreed to invest several million pounds in significant improvements to a number of the facilities at St Ann’s Hospital, including the inpatient female ward, which will greatly improve the experience and outcomes of those we support.

“This investment and commitment to continued improvement and upgrading follows on from the improvements for patients already made with the brand new buildings opened at St Ann’s Hospital in October 2013.”

Money paid to external providers (Sept 2013 to Sept2014)

NON NHS

Cygnet Health Care: Beckton, London – £555,116

Blackheath, London – £247,151

Bradford, Yorkshire – £167,697

Cheadle, Greater Manchester – £29,222

Kewstoke, Somerset - £330,746

Unspecified – £111,059

Priory Group:

Royal Cheadle, Greater Manchester – £28,518

Pankhurst Unit at Royal Cheadle, Greater Manchester – £63,150

Unspecified – £81,679

Other non-NHS providers 

The Dene, West Sussex – £2,220

St Andrew’s Healthcare, Northamptonshire – £40,074

Mile End Hospital, London – £644 Non-NHS total: £1,657,275

NHS hospitals 

Tower Hamlets NHS Trust, London – £204,554

East London Trust, London – £13,202

NHS total: £217,756

Grand total: £1,875,031