Forum for residents of St Georges Park and Long Leys Road Lincoln

[SteveW]

Far more than Social Services would care to admit!

[john shipton]

Just an update...

I have not received any call back or letter regarding the medium secure unit which one of their officers gave assurance of when I made the telephone call, only a deadly silence from the PCT/NHS Trust.
So we will have to wait for a further response from Mr Slavin of their Chief Executive when Deb sends another letter on behalf of the LLRA making further enquiries.

[deb]

John has received his written reply today and passed to me as he is on leave with limited access to a computer. Some rumours he put to them on the phone were answered as follows:
2 metre fencing will be placed around Doddington Ward.
Fencing will only be replaced around the garden area.

Toughened glass will be used
Toughened glass will be used because it is the NHS and planning department required standards

Patients from outside the county will be moved here
The 8 male patients will be Lincolnshire residents

The Trust is struggling to appoint staff
90 applications have been received for 10 advertised posts

I hope this satisfies those that asked John to pursue these rumours - if you hear any more feel free to ring Paul Widdowfield, Communications Officer on 01522 513355 and let LLRA know if you want them to follow up on the answers. I am awaiting a reply re. the type of patient/personality that may use the refurbished facility as the main concern addressed to me was whether residents needed to be at all concerned.

[deb]

I received acknowledgement of my letter yesterday, a full reply will follow.

[deb]

The reply to my letter was to have a meeting together with Chair Pete which we did yesterday with two very dedicated members of the NHS Partnership Trust on Long Leys Road. What I can tell you is that the 8 male service users that will be using the refurbished Doddington Ward (that's the maximum it can hold) are of no different personality type than have been helped here in the past. To make it absolutely clear, there are no 'medium secure' units in Lincolnshire. Rampton would be classed as 'high secure' and Francis Willis at the Peter Hodgkinson Centre is a 'low secure' unit. The service users on Doddington Ward will be 'medium dependency rehabilitation' which is below any of these. Long Leys Court helps those with learning disabilities and Yarborough Court (Ashby Ward) is office accommodation for community teams. The fencing issue is merely for the garden area of Doddington Ward. Not only does it need replacing but the garden level is such that it is banked at one end so is, in effect, less than 6' at the moment. At present the teams on site have a maximum of 45 in patients. From December, after Doddington ward is refurbished this will reduce to 33.
Residents have noticed soil tests going on at the back of the old Ashby Ward and the Trust hope that in 3 or 4 years time there will be a brand new 'high dependency' unit to replace Doddington and Saxon Ward to help a maximum of 42 people (men and women). These may include people who have finished a term at Francis Willis or who need to be in a locked ward to help them beat a cycle of drug misuse. For all those that have shown an interest in our neighbours or have had concerns I urge you to attend an Open Day which will be on 22 November to give us details of these planned new units. A flyer will be delivered about this shortly.
Please treat our neighbours with the same respect as we would want our self. It is NOT appropriate to walk down the paths and stare in the windows of what could be a bedroom area. A man with a dog that did this severely upset the person inside.
From 1 October the Trust became a Foundation Trust. One of the big differences between this and a normal NHS trust is that the public can join up as members, vote for a governor to represent them and receive a newsletter. It’s a way of giving local people more of an influence in how their local health services are run. The link all about it is here: http://www.lpt.nhs.uk/templates/Page.aspx?id=627 , for general information go to http://www.lpt.nhs.uk/templates/Page.aspx?id=273

[iggy]

thanks for sorting that one out deb good result
if yourself or pete meet the hospital soon could you just talk through the dangrous parking of some people from the hospital
i had to sit for aprox 20 min and wait for somebody today from 9.10 till 9.30 amand i spoted 4 cars parking on carrem wayand go to the hospital plus 3 from shop and in the 20 min i was there 2 near misses between cars .this is because you can not see around the cars and bend BOTH THESE places of work have car parks could we please ask for no on road parking as im sure accidents will happen

[deb]

Well spotted Ian. I walk by there everyday and have never believed they're all for the 'shop'. Will have a word and call in at the shop too.

[john shipton]

This may be of interest for those following the story about the mental health units on St Georges Hospital.
The owners of the property mentioned in the article is the Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and has a price tag of £750,000.
It has been empty for the last five years. Its former patients were moved from there to Carholme Court on St Georges Hospital, Long Leys Road.
This article was published in the Lincolnshire Echo today (13th November).

HOME WITH FASCINATING HISTORY UP FOR SALE

08:00 - 13 November 2007



A Home which has accommodated some of Lincoln's most tormented minds is up for sale.

Number 12 Lindum Terrace has a price tag of £750,000 and includes a one-acre garden - almost unprecedented for uphill Lincoln.

Agents Hodgson Elkington are selling the impressive three-storey Victorian house on behalf of Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.

It was originally purchased by the NHS in the 1980s as a nurses' residence prior to accommodating people suffering from long-term mental health problems.

Many of the patients had drug and alcohol addictions and sometimes stayed for a couple of years at a time.

Now in desperate need of some TLC, the house has been empty for five years since the trust moved its patients to Carholme Court on Long Leys Road.

Cash raised from the sale will go toward patient care.

For more on this story, see Tuesday's Lincolnshire Echo.

[kelly and chris]

Hi, just want to update you all.

Plans for the hospital.
As we all know Doddington is to become secure to move clients from francis willis to there with a veiw to have francis willis take on out of area clients, generating more money for the trust.

The area of land behind ashby ward is to be used for building on. The plans are saying it is to be a secure unit in its own right.

My source assures me that plans have been submitted and an email has been released by LPFT. I am seeing them tomorrow and hopefully getting a copy of this email.

When i mentioned the earlier correspondance from Chris Slavin who said there were no plans to build a secure unit. my source mentioned there may have been some lies told...

The saga continues


John,
Lindum terrace was used as a step on from rehab to move people back into the community. It was a fantastic resource that should never have been neglected by the trust in the way it was. When it closed, it was a tragedy and those clients were not all moved into carholme court. The staff moved over, but most clients were successful in their own accomadation.
As far as i am aware building has been rented and used for offices since it closed.

[deb]

I think it is terminology that is at odds here. There is quite a lengthy piece on all the changes at the hospital in The Newsletter that should be with you soon. The plan for the new building is for it to be secure i.e. locked but not that it is 'low secure' (or even medium or high) like Francis Willis. It will be 'high dependency'.

[kelly and chris]

I think it is terminology that is at odds here. There is quite a lengthy piece on all the changes at the hospital in The Newsletter that should be with you soon. The plan for the new building is for it to be secure i.e. locked but not that it is 'low secure' (or even medium or high) like Francis Willis. It will be 'high dependency'.

Im sorry, I dont agree. Doddington has always been a 'secure' ward that can be locked in fact there was a time it was always locked. Saxon can also be locked and that is a more active ward for rehab.
The intentions for the ward is for transferring francis willis clients to, that are more settled in their mental state and behaviour.
Please dont be fooled by a change in the 'buzz' words, LPFT have a way with words.

I look forward to the newsletter

[deb]

Yes, I was told that it has always been locked - or at least capable of being locked though hasn't been used that way for a while. As was posted here previously, the words or terminology may change but the service users will be the same and yes, it will be a 'step down' for Francis Willis patients who have finished their term there. I don't understand which bit you don't agree with Kelly, is it the terminology that the Trust use or what we have been told. I hope you'll have The Newsletter this weekend, let me know what you think. The next Open Day will be 17th January, a flyer will be round about that shortly too.

[pete]

Im not bothered its not on my doorstep!