Ward to shut for revamp (From York Press)

Eldery people’s ward at Bootham Park Hospital to shut for revamp

8:08am Monday 15th October 2012 in News By Kate Liptrot, kate.liptrot@thepress.co.uk

AN eldery people’s assessment unit in York is to close for three months for refurbishment.

The unit at Bootham Park Hospital will close from mid-November, a spokesman for the Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust said.

Those patients in the unit will be relocated to Cherry Tree House in Tang Hall while work is carried out to bring facilities up to date.

However, following reports received by The Press, the trust dismissed reports that the trust was looking at the potential closure of the hospital.

The spokesman said: “The Trust has no current plans to close Bootham Park Hospital.

“The site does have some physical limitations in its ability to house modern healthcare services, but we are currently working with NHS North Yorkshire and York, who are the landlords of the site, to carry out a programme of improvements to make best use of the site and provide safe, secure efficient services.”

There are currently two operational wards at the hospital with a total of 29 beds, the trust said. The elderly assessment unit currently has 16 beds.

Earlier this year it was reported how the mental health hospital had decided it would not reopen its mother and baby facility after temporarily shutting in 2010.

The trust said the two-bed area in York was not an accredited unit and instead services would be increased in Leeds.

Last year, one of the wards at Bootham Park Hospital was cut as the region’s NHS trust took action to save money.