Lea Castle Action Group - Up-date
Posted by nigelknowles on June 1, 2008
Our Group meets regularly at The Tulip Tree Centre, with the permission of Age Concern. Apart from Jenny and myself we are a group of parents with children either living at Lea Castle or using the Outpatient Department facilities.
Given the decision taken by the Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust to close Lea Castle, the work of ensuring patients have new relevant and suitable accomodation to meet their needs seems to have been taken on by staff at Worcestershire County Council. They are doing a good job in very difficult circumstances.
At the moment, some 15 patients remain on the Lea Castle site. There are several problems relating to their situation.
1. One or two of them have no family, so are very dependant on our statutory services.
2. Many of the Lea Castle staff have necessarily had to move on to take up other positions. Some staff would like to continue working with patients they already know and are trusted by them.
3. There is a serious problem of the Lea Castle site being left in a state of abandonment, with buildings boarded up and security guards on site. This is very distressing for patients.
4. It seems as if the situation of “rehousing” patients could continue until next year, with all of the above problems continuing.
Lea Castle Action Group will continue to exist as long as parents wish it to. Our next meeting will take place at the Tulip Tree Centre on 24th June at 3pm. This is the day after Worcestershre County Council’s Health and Overview Scrutiny Committee reconsider the issue of the Lea Castle site and its patients.
