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<\/a>Workbridge which has existed for decades will close.<\/p>\nLongstanding Northampton charity Workbridge is to close affer failing mental health provider St Andrew\u2019s Healthcare has run into severe financial difficulties.<\/p>\n
Staff were told of the closure yesterday and users and carers were given the bombshell news at 4pm this afternoon.<\/p>\n
They were told by St Andrew\u2019s deputy chief executive Dr Sanjith Kamath who also said the future of St Andrew\u2019s Healthcare, which is the largest mental health charity in the country, is also at risk. The charity cares for hundreds of patients and employs thousands of clinical and healthcare staff.<\/p>\n
Share<\/a><\/p>\n He said: <\/p>\n \u201cWe are like many other charities in the UK in a state of difficult financial stress and it probably will not be an understatement to say we are examining whether St Andrew\u2019s can continue as a charity or not, given the financial pressure.<\/p>\n \u201cAlready we have had two rounds of voluntary redundancy. We have had a further round of compulsory redundancy that was announced yesterday and this morning. We are closing down a number of services, including our services for patients with dementia, again another service that has been here for a number of decades. We are closing down our CAMHS service, principally because the NHS wants to cheaply provide those services within the NHS rather than the independent sector.<\/p>\n \u201cWorkbridge has always been an organisation that the rest of the chart has been subsidising. This is not to undervalue the huge amount of work, it has been doing. We had a further blow * when the chancellor put up the national insurance for employers and more recently we have had significant quality problems within the hospital.<\/p>\n \u201cGiven the parlous state of our finances we can no longer afford to keep Workbridge open.\u201d<\/p>\n He said he knew the announcement would come as a \u2018huge shock\u2019 to many.<\/p>\n The news comes after a damning Care Quality Commission report this month that placed St Andrew\u2019s Healthcare in special measures. The charity operates across four sites in Northampton and the report found some services were unsafe, badly led and some wards were unhygienic. Many areas were also under staffed and a number of regulations of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 had been broken.<\/p>\n In July the Care Quality Commission stopped the charity from admitting new patients, meaning it has been struggling to bring in its usual income. Accounts filed with the Charity Commission show the organisation has an annual income of \u00a3217m. <\/p>\n Workbridge was founded 40 years ago and was taken over by St Andrew\u2019s Healthcare in 2009. Besides the workshops and learning centre, it also has a cafe. This will also close.<\/p>\n Dr Kamath said the charity had been in touch with West Northamptonshire Council and more talks were needed to see what options were available for service users.<\/p>\n