£36m mental health ward opens in Boston
Officials said the new ward was part of a wider programme to end dormitory-style accommodation
A £36 million mental health facility to support adults in crisis has officially opened.
The unit, which is located at Norton Lea in London Road, Boston, will support working-aged adults across south Lincolnshire who are experiencing mental health issues.
The 19-bed mixed gender facility – named Havenside – will replace the former Ward 12 at Pilgrim Hospital.
Havenside is run by the Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (LPFT) and includes therapeutic environments where people can recover with ‘dignity, privacy and support’.
Havenside will provide patients with individual bedroom suites, dedicated indoor and outdoor open spaces and a wellbeing cafe.
Officials said the new ward was part of a wider programme to end dormitory-style accommodation across Lincolnshire’s mental health in-patient services.
The LPFT worked with the University of Lincoln’s School of Creative Arts to develop ‘mindful and therapeutic’ artwork for the ward.
At the official opening on Tuesday, March 10, LPFT chief executive Sarah Connery, said: “What we try to achieve here at the Lincolnshire partnership is to make sure people are supported to live well in their community as much as possible, but also at times people do get themselves into a crisis, and it gets them to a point where we can’t provide that care to them safely in the community, and they need to come and have a hospital in-patient stay with us.
“We try to make sure that the length of time they are in an in-patient stay is as short as possible because we want people to be back in the communities, with their loved ones in their own homes, wherever that may be.
“So, what we try and do is make sure that we are planning for that discharge from day one as much as possible – and making sure that while they’re here at their most poorliest that they’re getting really great safe, compassionate effective care with lots of opportunities to engage in therapeutic activities, access to outdoor space, lots of meaningful activities.”
Former deputy chief medical officer for England, Prof Jonathan Van-Tam, was invited to the official opening of the ward.
Mr Van-Tam said: “I have to say I’ve been completely blown away by the passion and the attention to detail that has clearly gone into every single aspect of this building.
“They’ve thought through from the patient perspective – the whole pathway – from when you’re admitted here in a mental health crisis through to a good outcome, making you well enough to get back into the community.
“They’ve thought through literally every step – every twist and turn of that journey – in terms of how the building has been design engineered to make it safe and effective and I think get the best outcomes.”
Patients will be transferred to the new ward over the coming weeks.