Conservative councillors are backing campaigners planning to demonstrate in the streets of Brixton to stop cuts to mental health services.
The 24-hour emergency clinic at the Maudsley Hospital in Denmark Hill for mentally ill patients is under threat as South London and Maudsley (SLaM) NHS Trust plans a series of cost-cutting measures as a result of the NHS cash crisis.
"It's important our community does not lose these vital resources," says Cllr Irene Kimm, Conservative Spokesperson on Health. "It's clear that cuts on this scale can only be achieved at a heavy cost in terms of the quality and quantity of patient care."
Under the plans there would be cuts in the number of home treatment teams and care for women, children and adolescents. Nursing home care for the elderly will also be effected. A clinic for treating sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) will also close. Its closure would mean patients have to go to A&E in an emergency which could lead to more people harming themselves, ending up in police cells and upsetting other patients.
Lambeth & Southwark's joint Health Scrutiny Committee is now considering whether to ask the Secretary of State to review the closure of the emergency clinic.
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Demo to fight closure of mental health clinic - South London Press, Friday 7th July 2006 [Web]
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