Patients "too scared to go home"

[dutchman]

A patient at Coventry's mental health centre is too scared to go home on overnight leave - as nurses have told him his room will not be there when he returns.

Ben Watson, who suffers from chronic depression, was one of a string of patients to contact The Observer to complain about ward changes at The Caludon Centre, in Clifford Bridge Road.

Following the closure of Nuneaton's Avenue Clinic earlier this month, the cnetre's Westwood Ward - which currently houses Mr Watson - will soon only cater for patients from Nuneaton and Rugby.

The move means patients on the ward face being moved to another of the centre's wards - or one of eight beds at Warwick Hospital's mental health unit.

Mr Watson, who has been an inpatient at the Caludon Centre for six months, said the changes had hit him like a ton of bricks.

"I'm basically just sitting around waiting to be told when I'm moving wards and I can't go on leave because I've been told someone else will be given my room if I do," the 45-year-old told The Observer.

He added his distress was not just restricted to the ward changes.

"There used to be a continuation of care but now we'll have different psychiatrists depending on whether we're in hospital or the community," he said.

"I've had my psychiatrist for nearly seven years and like many mental health patients, I had to work through trust issues and build up a strong relationship with her.

"But I'm not going to be able to see her any more - either as an inpatient or an outpatient."

Another patient, Christopher Leonard, suffers from bipolar disorder and said he was worried the changes would set his recovery back.

"Everyone's so nervous and anxious," he said. "There's so much tension and no one knows what's going on from one day to the next - we've been left completely in the dark.

"To drop this on us when we're suffering from mental health problems is just not right."

David Allcock, chief executive of Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust, which runs The Caludon Centre, declined to comment on individual cases, but said the changes aimed to provide the best care.

"Our inpatient services provide assessment and treatment care for those that need this, but most people who use our services do so in the community," he said. "An important feature of all the care we provide is patients get what they need, when they need it, and as close to home as possible.

"We have received a written query from our service users about recent changes and intend to respond in full to that letter."