\n Lambourn House, a low security forensic mental health service at Littlemore Mental Health Centre, provides a step-down service from higher levels of security for 15 patients.\n<\/p>\n
\n But Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the service, has announced it is no longer accepting new patients and it will close in March 2027.\n<\/p>\n
\n The Trust said the trust has decided to replace the low security care with community-based forensic mental health services, a side of the services which have ‘expanded significantly’ in recent years.\n<\/p>\n
\n Littlemore Mental Health Centre pictured in 2014 (Image: NQ)\n<\/p>\n
\n But one staff member on the ward, who did not want to be named, said they believe the care outcomes patients receive will suffer as a result.\n<\/p>\n
\n “It doesn’t make any sense at all,” the staff member said.\n<\/p>\n
\n “We are the last step before the patient returns to real life.\n<\/p>\n
\n “If they\u2019ve spent a year in in-patient care, without us, they\u2019re going to spend a year and a half, because they won\u2019t be ready.\n<\/p>\n
\n “It won\u2019t be saving any money.\n<\/p>\n
\n “I think we\u2019re going to see a lot of patients return, and when they do, it\u2019s going to be bad – because it’s going to accelerate the process.”\n<\/p>\n
\n The staff member said the decision was taken by the Trust before any staff were consulted with, by ‘office employees’ who ‘don’t understand’ what it’s like to provide care on the ground.\n<\/p>\n
\n Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust confirmed that they will be engaging and consulting with staff in line with Trust policy.\n<\/p>\n
\n Many of the staff members expect to be redeployed to other areas within the service, the insider added, but they’re disappointed they weren’t consulted on the future of the ward before the decision was taken.\n<\/p>\n
\n A spokesperson for Oxford Health said: “Lambourn House is a small, open forensic mental health unit that helps up to 15 people take the final steps towards living independently in the community.\n<\/p>\n
\n “Over recent years, community-based forensic mental health services have expanded significantly, enabling more people to receive specialist support closer to home and reducing the need for inpatient step-down care.\n<\/p>\n
\n “Reflecting this shift in how forensic care is delivered, Lambourn House is not accepting new patients and will close in March 2027.\n<\/p>\n
\n “Every patient will receive a carefully planned transition tailored to their individual needs, and our priority is to ensure patients, families and staff are fully supported throughout the process.”\n<\/p>\n
\n Littlemore Hospital is made up of Wenric Ward, which can accommodate 21 men, Lambourn House, the open pre-discharge unit for 10 men and five women, and Thames House, an enhanced low-secure accommodation for 26 women.\n<\/p>\n
\n The Trust added that no decision has yet been taken on what the building of Lambourn House will be used for after the ward’s closure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lambourn House, a low security forensic mental health service at Littlemore Mental Health Centre, provides a step-down service…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":629961,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[103,61,60,410,411],"class_list":["post-629960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-health","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-mental-health","tag-mentalhealth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=629960"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629960\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/629961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=629960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=629960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=629960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}