Chaddesley House, located at St Ann’s Hospital in Poole, is part of a £70.6 million investment in mental health services across Dorset through the Government’s New Hospital Programme.
Purpose-built by Dorset HealthCare, the facility aims to increase capacity and improve care for people with severe mental health needs requiring round-the-clock support.
Local MPs Neil Duncan-Jordan, Lloyd Hatton, Tom Hayes and Jessica Toale attended the opening ceremony.
The opening of Chaddesley House, with representatives from Dorset HealthCare, local MPs, the New Hospital Programme, Dorset Mental Health Forum, NHS England and Kier Construction. (Image: Dorset HealthCare University NHS Foundation Trust)
Matthew Bryant, chief executive of Dorset HealthCare, said: “We’re very pleased to be opening the first of our New Hospital Programme developments, which we know will make a huge difference for local people living with severe mental illness.
“Chaddesley House will allow us to provide the highest level of care to more local people – here in Dorset, close to their friends and family.
“It has been designed together with service users, and the environment of care is of a very high quality which will help people recover as quickly as possible and will also make a great difference to families, carers and NHS staff.”
The two-storey building will house two specialist adult wards.
On the first floor, Chine Ward will accommodate female patients relocating from an older, listed building on site, offering upgraded facilities and increased capacity with 14 beds.
Haven Ward, located on the ground floor, will provide psychiatric intensive care with eight beds for men and five for women, adding to overall bed numbers and enabling further modernisation work at St Ann’s Hospital.
The improvements are expected to be completed in 2027/28.
Natalie Forrest, chief programme officer of the New Hospital Programme, said: “Chaddesley House marks an important milestone for both Dorset and the New Hospital Programme.
“This modern new facility will help more people receive high-quality mental health care closer to home, in an environment designed to support recovery, wellbeing and dignity.”
The next major project under the New Hospital Programme is an £17.9 million high intensity environment unit for children and young people in Alumhurst Road, Bournemouth.
The ribbon cutting at Chaddesley House (Image: Dorset HealthCare University NHS Foundation Trust)
Set to open in June, the eight-bed unit will ensure severely unwell young people can receive care closer to home, rather than being sent for treatment far from their families.
The trust says the expanded facilities are part of a broader transformation of mental health services in Dorset, focused on providing modern, accessible care built around the needs of patients.