Inpatient mental health services won’t be returning to Vauxhall Bridge Road hospital
By Ben Lynch, Local Democracy Reporter
A London health board has agreed not to reopen inpatient mental health services at the Gordon Hospital in Westminster.
Instead, the services will continue to be delivered at the St Charles Hospital in neighbouring Kensington and Chelsea.
Community services will however remain at the Gordon, and the NHS and Westminster City council are to work together to deliver 10 beds at a new site in the south of the borough.
The inpatient services at the Gordon Hospital by Vauxhall Bridge Road were temporarily closed in 2020 due to the Covid pandemic and consolidated at the St Charles. Prior to that, the Gordon had 51 beds across three wards.
Since then, the Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust, which owns and operates the sites, has focused on developing its community care across the patch with millions invested in improvements. It also introduced a Mental Health Crisis Assessment Service (MHCAS), which is based at St Charles.
The proposal to not reopen the wards at the Gordon and instead consolidate the acute mental health services at the St Charles was criticised at a joint Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea scrutiny meeting in December last year, with councillors from both local authorities airing concerns.
Cllr Nafsika Butler-Thalassis, deputy leader and cabinet member for adult social care and public health in Westminster, said she was ‘extremely disappointed’ by the plan.
She raised the substantial need for mental health care in Westminster and accused the board and the trust of not properly considering the concerns raised in submissions by local authorities.
Members of the trust and board defended the proposal, pointing to the commitment to increased spending on mental health services in the area.
In a paper presented to the board on Tuesday, it was detailed how since the services at the Gordon Hospital closed, community interventions have increased ‘significantly’ while voluntary admissions had decreased. It, however, added that waits for mental health patients have risen.
Under the plan, the community-based services established at the Gordon since the 2020 closure, such as the South Westminster Community Mental Health Hub, are to continue. It will also be redeveloped as a walk-in centre for residents with mental health needs and experiencing homelessness.
A total of 10 new beds will also be delivered in the south of the borough, with a site in the process of being identified.
The recommendations were approved by the board. The decision is to be reviewed by the joint Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea scrutiny meeting, the date of which is yet to be confirmed.
Following the meeting, Cllr Butler-Thalassis said: “The council has long-campaigned to preserve acute mental health support in the city, and we believe reopening the 51 beds at the Gordon Hospital would be the most effective way of ensuring residents can access timely, quality care in Westminster.
“However, we welcome this agreement to jointly fund ten new bed spaces, which will ensure our residents with mental health needs can continue accessing care locally.”
A spokesman for NHS North West London said: “We are excited by the shift towards better mental health services in the community, with inpatient beds, including step down beds, for those who need them. All the evidence and national direction of travel suggests this is best for service users.”
Pictured top: The Gordon Hospital (Picture: Google Street View)