Plans for a new acute mental health unit in Preston are announced by Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust

Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust want to develop the Learning Disability Inpatient Unit on land to the south of Guild Lodge, Whittingham, where it already has a range of medium-secure, low-secure and step-down inpatient facilities.

The former entrance to Whittingham Hospital has recently sold

To get the ball rolling, they have submitted a planning application for enabling works associated with a future development on the former Frank Gardham Housesite, including details on site clearance, drainage works and access.

The Trust say the proposal “will enable the delivery of a much-needed health facility within Lancashire and South Cumbria”.

What would the unit offer?

The new unit would provide services for assessment, rehabilitation and treatment.

The building would be part one-storey, part two-storey, comprising of two ward zones which include:

1. Eight standard en-suite bedrooms and two accessible en-suite bedrooms

2. Three standard studio flats and one accessible studio flats.

Both wards would be supported by one nursing team.

The average length of stay for service-users would be three to six months and the wards would be supported by therapy facilities, visitor facilities, facilities management spaces, staff welfare offices and admin spaces.

The idea is that the building will have a domestic, ‘non-hospital’ feel architecturally, and will be a “welcoming, therapeutic and calming environment”.

Why build it here?

The site is in close proximity to a development of 750 houses on the former Whittingham Hospital site.

LSCFT say the location of the proposal “has been well-considered and following a detailed site-appraisal process, the site to the south of Guild Lodge has been chosen to be the most suitable location”.

Thhey add: “Reasons for this include the close proximity to an existing mental health inpatient hospital and its clinical support, the integration of the facility within a local community."

The site would be accessed from Cumeragh Lane on the existing road through Guild Lodge.

Architects say: “We have positioned the building to minimise the impact on the landscaping and to reduce the number of good quality, established trees to be removed as much as possible...the vast majority of trees around the site are to be retained.”