THIRTY hospital beds could be removed from the Centurion mental health unit in Chichester under new proposals, it has been disclosed.
The county's health overview and scrutiny committee heard multi-million pound improvements in community services over recent years meant there were now too many beds.
Around 55 hospital beds for mental health patients across West Sussex could be c
losed under the new proposals.
The Centurion site at Graylingwell Drive could be affected.
Consultation However one 13 to 16-bed ward, and another 16-bed ward could also be installed at the Harold Kidd Unit at St Richard's Hospital.
In-patient mental health services in West Sussex were said to not be efficient, with 29 per cent more beds than the national average.
The committee was told the closures - to be subject to public consultation before decisions were taken - would release about £2.5m, to 'drive back' into further community services.
Richard Ford, executive commercial director of the Sussex Partnership NHS Trust, said people were generally supportive of the idea of closing beds.
But the 'more difficult conversations' took place when specific wards in specific locations were proposed.
Crucial serviceClaire Ockwell, representing Capital, an independent service-users' organisation, said: "Obviously, closing beds inevitably scares people. Keeping enough presence in the right places is crucial to any rearrangement of services."
Dominic Ellett, programme director for mental health with NHS West Sussex, said investment by this organisation and the local authority had been significant over the past five years, and there was an 'abundance' of new community services.
These included training 130 new staff by January 2012 to provide psychological therapies.
"We are now in a position where we think it's safe to reduce capacity in terms of beds," he said. There were high levels of over-supply.
ReinvestmentMr Ellett said it was time to reinvest the money saved in further community services, particularly older person's mental health services, and in those which continued to keep people out of hospital.
Mr Ford said it was recognised there were difficult times ahead for public services, but this was not an excuse for not doing things.
Committee chairman Cllr Christine Field said members were tending to endorse the approach on consultation.
They wanted to reinforce the message that this was about improving services, through which processes the number of in-patient beds would be reduced, and the money fed back into providing better services.
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