1,200-strong Petition handed to Department of Health calling to reinstate Mental Health Unit in Medway

On Thursday 12th July, Medway Liberal Democrat campaigners went to Westminster to hand in a petition to the Department of Health.
They were joined by Norman Lamb MP, the Liberal Democrat former Health Minister, who is a strong advocate for greater awareness and better care provision in Mental Health and who in government pushed for parity of esteem between mental health and physical health.
The petition was signed by an amazing 1,200 people across the Medway Towns and the surrounding area of Kent, which is also affected by out of area referrals needed as a consequences of closing the Mental Health Unit at Medway Maritime Hospital in 2013. The signatures were collected online, on doorsteps and at a series of street campaigns organised by local Liberal Democrat members and calls for the reinstatement of a Mental Health Unit in Medway.
Medway Liberal Democrats have been running the campaign, led by Paul Chaplin, for the last few months and the campaign has highlighted Mental Health services both in general at a local level and in particular with regard to the issue of referring patients out of area.
We believe that with a population of approximately 270,000 people, Medway is big enough that its Health Trust should be able to provide these services to local people. The signatories of our petition agree with us and many have spoken to us saying that action is needed to address this and other issues affecting Mental Health provision in Medway. The petition sends a strong message calling on the Department of Health to reinstate a fit for purpose Mental Health Unit in Medway.
The absence of such a Unit impacts heavily on our police force in that they, at a conservative estimate, spend a third of their time dealing with mental health cases. The provision of a fit-for-purpose Mental Health Unit would free up police time to enable them to deal more efficiently and effectively with these cases. Allowing more time to deal with other issues, such as reducing levels of crime which are currently on the increase.
In common with our petition we have had people come forward to tell us that out of area referrals cost more and impacts on the quality of patient treatment, in that distance in many instances isolates patients from their family members who then find it difficult to travel to visit them. For many, that family support is essential in the aid to recovery. All over the country out of area treatment for Mental Health is now being regarded as standard practice and the Liberal Democrats strongly believe this is not in the best interests of patients and does not provide good quality of care.
We have petitioned the people with the power to reinstate the unit in Medway. Medway Council does not have power to act on this issue, however we have asked questions and they responded stating that Medway Councillors opposed the closure.