A PLAN which would see adult mental health beds move from Wells to Yeovil will be considered next week.
Feedback on a proposal to move the beds will be on the agenda at a meeting of the Somerset Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) on Wednesday (September 2).
The findings will be presented by Andrew Keefe, deputy director of commissioning for mental health, autism and learning disabilities, and Dr Peter Bagshaw, GP and clinical lead for mental health and dementia.
The move is being considered because St Andrews Ward in Wells is around 45 minutes away from the nearest emergency department (at Bath Royal United Hospital), whereas Rowan Ward in Yeovil is less than one mile away from Yeovil District Hospital.
Health chiefs say moving of the beds would better support staff if there was a medical emergency.
Over 12 weeks the Somerset CCG held 63 consultation events and received 538 responses to the proposal.
The majority of responses (52%) were opposed to the proposal, whereas 37% agreed with the changes.
Mr Keefe said: “We believe it’s really important that we openly and honestly give the people of Somerset the opportunity to hear what people said in response to the public consultation.
“We hope that by presenting the report in a public event (albeit a socially distanced virtual event) we will be able to share the information with many more people.”
There was a higher response rate to the consultations in Central Mendip, West Mendip and North Sedgemoor.
A virtual meeting will be held on September 2 at 7pm. If you would like to register for the event, email somccg.fitformyfuture@nhs.net or call 01935 384119.
Andrew added: “People who attend the event on September 2, won’t be able to speak direct to the presenters or the host. However, there will be a Q&A function which they will be able to use.
“We will collate all the questions and comments and at the end of the presentation a summary will be fed back by the host along with any answers or clarification that we are able to provide.”
The proposal to move the beds will be considered by Somerset CCG’s governing body on September 24.
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