HEALTH watchdogs today called for more hospital beds for the mentally ill after claiming that the soaring demand for treatment had reached crisis point.

Concern is growing that the mental health unit at Blackburn hospitals is struggling to cope with the high level of admissions.

Hospital chiefs have admitted that the matter is causing concern and that some patients have had to be sent to other hospitals because of the lack of beds.

But trust chief executive John Thomas said no patients who had needed a bed had been turned away, despite the case of psychiatric patient Michael Ridehalgh, 44, who killed himself after he was told there was a shortage at Queen's Park.

Mr Thomas said an internal inquiry into the case of Mr Ridehalgh was taking place. He said mental health patients were either admitted as urgent cases on the day or after an outpatients' assessment by a consultant. Those assessed in outpatients had to wait a "small number" of weeks for admission.

Nigel Robinson, chief officer of Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley Community Health Council (CHC) said the situation had reached "saturation point" for the 10 per cent of mentally ill patients who needed acute hospital care. He said: "There is a worry that as mental health institutions have closed across the country, local hospitals have had to cope with the increased demand on available space.

"There is a need for more beds for patients in the acute phase of their illness. About 90 per cent of mentally ill people can be treated in the community, but the rest need acute inpatient care.

"I am sure the staff are doing their best, but it is a vicious circle because if a patient cannot be admitted to hospital the problems are then forced upon the relatives or carers."

There are 70 acute mental health beds at Blackburn's Queen's Park Hospital and 13 at the new Woodlea rehabilitation unit at Park Lee Hospital. In the past week there have been 22 admissions which the chief executive of Blackburn hospitals' trust, John Thomas, described as "very high".

Plans are in the pipeline for a new mental health unit at Queen's Park which would improve the standard of accommodation, but only create two extra beds.

See OPINION

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.