Temporary changes to mental health inpatient services following a fire at a facility in Mile Oak have been made permanent.
The George Bryan Centre suffered serious damage in a blaze in 2019.
As a result, services were relocated to St George’s Hospital in Stafford.
The Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Integrated Care Board (ICB) has now confirmed the changes will be made permanent, with “enhanced” community provision also introduced.
Chris Bird, interim chief transformation officer for the ICB, said:
“Making sure that people get the right mental health care in their local community is our priority, but when someone needs to be admitted to hospital for their mental health, it is important that they do so in the most appropriate facilities.
“The fire at the George Bryan Centre forced us to review how we deliver these services.
“There is now much improved mental health provision in the area impacted, and that means inpatient provision is only required in the most serious cases.
“We have accepted that this means patients who require inpatient treatment are best served by the St George’s Hospital in Stafford which has been used as an interim measure since 2019.”
Chris Bird
The ICB has also approved the implementation of an interim policy designed to make the criteria for accessing assisted conception services the same across the region.
It replaces three previous policies inherited from the six former clinical commissioning groups.
Dr Paul Edmondson-Jones, chief medical officer for the ICB, said:
“It has been a key focus of the ICB to make sure that everyone has the same access to services across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent.
“We will revisit the policy when we have further national guidance through the Women’s Health Strategy and updated National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance on fertility, which is expected next year.”
Dr Paul Edmondson-Jones
The new policy does not impact anyone currently receiving treatment with a specialist fertility provider under the previous guidance.
