Plans submitted for £8m mental health unit

It would be at Torbay Hospital.

The new two-level building would go on an empty plot next to the Beech Unit and Haytor Ward, which would be partly demolished, on the hospital site off Newton Road in Torquay.

The planning application from Devon Partnership NHS Trust is for a secure mixed-sex unit with 16 bedrooms, treatment and therapy spaces, offices and other facilities, built around two courtyard gardens.

The £8million NHS funding for the unit was announced in December 2018.

A statement with the planning application said: “Devon Partnership NHS Trust are seeking to develop a new mixed-gender adult mental health unit at Torbay Hospital. 

“This project aims to address the shortfall in local mental health accommodation and support the existing Beech Unit and Haytor Ward, which are currently running near maximum capacity.”

The planning application will be decided by Torbay Council after the consultation period which ends on Wednesday, March 11. 

The extra in-patient beds will mean fewer people being treated away from their home area.

An inspection last year on the trust which runs mental health services across Devon rated it as good overall but raised concerns over the long wait for treatment by some working age adults.

The trust said in response to the inspection report published in October that it was addressing the concerns and making improvements.

A new psychiatric intensive care unit was opened in Exeter in January 2019 for men and women with severe mental health needs.