ANOTHER day, another kick in the teeth for vulnerable mental health patients.

Worsley Court, an inpatient unit for men with dementia in Selby, will close by the end of this year, two months earlier than planned.

Staffing concerns are given as the reason. But it will mean an uncertain and anxious Christmas for the eight vulnerable patients who live there.

The announcement is the latest twist in the appalling game of musical chairs sparked by the sudden closure of Bootham Park Hospital. Following that closure Peppermill Court, a unit for elderly dementia patients off Huntington Road, closed so it could provide temporary inpatient accommodation for 24 mental health patients from Bootham Park.

Peppermill Court’s elderly dementia patients were moved out of York – a huge wrench for them and their families. Then in March this year, Acomb Garth, a recovery centre for people with mental health problems, was also closed – so it could be converted into a unit for male dementia patients.

It meant upheaval for the 12 patients who were being looked after there: but at least it offered hope for dementia patients who had been moved out of York.

The patients from Worsley Court were supposed to be transferred to Acomb Garth. But now, because Worsley Court will close earlier than expected, they will have to move somewhere else first.

This is shambolic – and utterly unacceptable.

It isn’t really the fault of the Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust, which was left picking up the pieces from the sudden closure of Bootham Park.

But it underlines the shocking crisis in mental health care in the area – and the complete shambles that seems to rule in an NHS starved of resources.