Child Mental Health Unit Planned

Plans have been unveiled for a child and adolescent mental health unit in Conwy. The new unit would be built in Abergele to offer support to young people suffering problems ranging from eating disorders to self-harm issues.

Funded by the Welsh Assembly Government and Health Commission Wales, the centre would include a five-bed emergency ward, open seven days a week. Three public meetings will be held as part of a 12-week consultation process.

It is hoped the unit will open in late 2009, subject to the consultation’s outcome. The existing service at Ceder Court in Colwyn Bay is only available five days a week with no emergency access provision. The new unit would boost the number of child and adolescent mental health beds in north Wales to 16.

Simon Dean, chief executive of Health Commission Wales, said: “It will enable patients that need highly specialised care to be treated and supported as close to home as possible, closer to their family and friends.”

The centre would be run by Conwy and Denbighshire NHS Trust.