MENTAL-HEALTH provision in York and Selby will be up for discussion at a meeting due to be held next week.

The Independent Service User Forum has been set up to provide a place for people to express concerns or offer suggestions over the services available.

The forum will meet on Wednesday from 6pm to 7.30pm at York Explore Library in Library Square.

Concerns have recently been expressed over the help available to patients in York and Selby, with hundreds of people placed on very lengthy waiting lists for counselling and others being sent out of area– sometimes hundreds of miles away – for treatment.

One service user involved in the forum said: “York Independent Mental Health Service User Forum has helped provide a much needed voice for users of mental-health services in the area.

“With waiting lists of more than a year for some services and patients sometimes being transported hundreds of miles away for treatment, there has never been a greater need for patients to have a unified voice and accessible way of feeding back their experiences and concerns about the service they experience.”

Set up by York Mind and funded by the Vale of York Clinical Commissioning Group, feedback from the forum will be given to the Mental Health and Learning Disabilities Board, which meets bi-monthly.

Concerns have recently been raised about mental health provision in York and Selby.

Last month The Press reported how up to £3 million has been spent on sending York and Selby patients to out of area beds since the start of last year.

For more details please contact Nigel Ayre on 01904 643364