MORE than £2m will go towards improving York's mental health services in coming months.

NHS Property Services and NHS England have set up two schemes to improve local NHS services to address property and facilities issues in York and ensure all mental health services take place in safe, secure and modern environments.

The first scheme will see the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service move out its current base at Lime Trees in Shipton Road into the Mill Lodge, where refurbishments worth £1,159,612 will be carried out.

The second scheme will upgrade Cherry Tree House in Heworth to provide a purpose built unit for elderly patients who are currently cared for on a ward at Bootham Park Hospital, in a scheme costing £1,106,612.

Ian Butterworth from NHS Property Services said: "This is great news for health services within York.

"Both identified sites will require significant refurbishment to enable them to accommodate these services safely and efficiently, with quality, security and patient experience being priorities for all organisations involved. The approval of this funding ensures that project plans can now be put into motion."

Dr Mark Hayes, chief clinical officer of NHS Vale of York Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), said: "This first step in the transformation of delivering mental health services meets with our aim to define the best possible model of care that will deliver timely, safe and quality mental health care which will be equally as accessible as care for physical illness or injury."

Jill Copeland from Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust said: "We are delighted that these plans have been approved. It is a priority for our Trust to ensure that people who use our services are cared for in environments that are safe and conducive to delivering a high standard of patient care and treatment."