Mental health unit vital to community

Published on 22nd March 2007 in Letters

Sir - I always thought it was a terrible saying, but now it seems oddly appropriate.

I refer, of course, to the oft-quoted suggestion that "the lunatics have taken over the asylum". In this case, however, the 'asylum' is Bartholomew House and the 'lunatics' are the accountants – sorry, I mean the highly-skilled, compassionate and forward-thinking officials – who are responsible for managing/financing the mental health unit in Goole.

The fact that this vitally-important amenity now has a question mark hanging over its long-term future should come as no surprise to anyone. After all, the very same site off Boothferry Road was once used for a maternity home; many of us will recall what amazing advances were promised in local midwifery services when it closed as part of wide-ranging NHS "improvements" brought about by the opening of Goole and District Hospital.

If I'm not mistaken, I seem to remember reading about various initiatives over the past few years designed to make things even better for mother, mother-to-be and child. Whatever fine-tuning may have taken place, even if it led to the loss of maternity beds and staff, you can be certain that it was all done for the benefit of residents.

And, speaking of births, one of the most notable arrivals at Goole Hospital - albeit one conceived by charities, rather than by the hospital trust itself - was its dedicated brain injuries'/disease department. Unfortunately, this fell by the wayside because it didn't attract enough patients.

Not to worry, though. The Woodland Avenue premises will shortly have a similar facility in use again. It's not that more people are now falling from their scooters or suffering from an epidemic of brain syndromes, merely that larger numbers of those requiring specialist care and therapy will be referred to the Goole site…in theory.

Another indication of how NHS hospital services in and around the district have improved over the past 10 years will be apparent to anyone reading the weekly death notices in the Goole Times.

There must be a good reason, I'm sure, why so many local individuals nowadays die in Scunthorpe, Grimsby or even Lincoln. After all, why spend your final days near your loved ones in Goole when you can pass away peacefully 20, 40 or more miles away in Lincolnshire, especially when comforted by the fact that your visitors can enjoy a pleasant, carbon-emitting drive to and from the hospital? Such journeys can be therapeutic, too, because those very same visitors will have the satisfaction of knowing that their car-parking fees, together with copious use of those hi-tech, over-the-bed telephones, will go towards further improvements in the NHS.

Taxed-to-the-hilt motorists and non-drivers alike from the Goole and Howden areas who suffer from such life-threatening conditions as carpal tunnel syndrome and Dupuytren's contracture have also been given plenty of opportunity in recent years to travel to south-of-the-Humber hospitals for nerve-function investigations – clearly the kind of complex procedures that they could never expect to have available on their doorstep. On a scale of one to 10, I would imagine that such tests rank alongside heart transplants, brain surgery and verucae removal.

But back to Bartholomew House. As one of the one-in-four people in Britain reckoned to have some kind of mental health problem each year – those are not my statistics, but figures provided by professionals working in the field – I declare my interest in the continued existence of this wonderful facility, whose hard-working and dedicated staff must have helped to prevent countless suicides in recent years.

Whatever happens as a result of this "full public consultation" into Bartholomew's long-term future, I'd be surprised if any changes did not have a damaging effect on the care of both in- and out-patients, especially if greater "care in the community" is the end result.

That old adage "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" appears to mean nothing to those in charge of our NHS (as in No Hope Service). If yet another closure takes place – I suppose you call it a "stress fracture" - the emotional and financial consequences will be felt not just by those suffering directly from poor mental health but also by their relatives, friends and colleagues who are forced to pick up the pieces.

Will that will be another sign of "progress" in the head-long drive for what passes as improvement? Or will the bereaved be saying "we told you so" when their loved ones are laid to rest.

Steve Anderson

Sands Lane, Holme-on-Spalding Moor