Major facelift for Totnes older people’s unit

Posted on 1st March, 2006

Devon Partnership NHS Trust has confirmed that it has secured more than £140,000 in funding to carry out a major refurbishment of the Harbourne Unit in Totnes. The 16-bed unit, which is part of Totnes Community Hospital, provides acute inpatient care for older people with a mental illness and also offers some respite and daycare services. The refurbishment, which will take around 13 weeks, is due to commence in April and should be completed by the middle of the summer.  The Harbourne Unit has already been closed to new admissions and appropriate, local arrangements have been made to provide care and treatment for existing service users while the work is being undertaken.  Commenting on the project, Chief Executive of Devon Partnership NHS Trust, Iain Tulley, said:  “The Harbourne Unit provides an excellent service to local people but it has been clear for some time that it is need of extensive modernisation and refurbishment.  We have now secured the funding to undertake this work and this is great news for our service users, their families and our staff.  “We are committed to providing a high quality environment for the older people in our care. As well as creating a more pleasant setting for everyone, the improvements that we are making will ensure that acute inpatient care and treatment at the Harbourne Unit are provided within a far more appropriate environment. “We are all too conscious that some disruption and inconvenience will inevitably be caused to our service users and staff in the run-up to the refurbishment and while the work itself is being carried out. I would like to offer my apologies for this, but we are making every effort to minimise such disruption and I am hopeful that everyone concerned will feel that the end result is worth the inconvenience.  We considered undertaking the work in a series of shorter phases over a longer period of time but felt that, on balance, disruption to service users, their families and our staff would be minimised through undertaking all of the necessary work at once.” The temporary arrangements that are being made for service users include the Fernworthy Unit at Torbay Hospital and Brunel Lodge in Newton Abbot. Other alternatives include day treatment at the Chadwell Centre in Paignton, Templer House at Newton Abbot Hospital or the Ilbert Day Hospital at South Hams Hospital in Kingsbridge. The major elements of the refurbishment are: · Installation of a new air conditioning system
· New showers for male and female four-bed wards
· Refurbishment of the dining room
· Improvements to the office/administration area
· Updating of the nurse-call system
· Removal of ligature points (meeting acute mental health safety requirements)
· New floor coverings in major areas
· Redecoration throughout.