Hospital sparks a w ar of words (From Penarth Times)

Hospital sparks a w ar of words

A WAR of words has broken out over the future of Sully Hospital.

While some mental health campaigners say it was wrong to close the site, other people say it was the only option.

The hospital closed in April 2001 following a report by the Health Advisory Service (HAS) which stated: "Sully Hospital does not provide an adequate environment for the in-patient care of people with a mental illness."

Currently, the hospital is one of eight sites being looked at by the Home Office to house asylum seekers.

The row follows a letter in last week's Penarth Times in which Max Wallis of the Vale Mental Health Campaign said: "HAS 2000 were employed by the Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust who wanted to close down Sully Hospital.

"So they recommended closure rather than upgrading and played up the term 'safety risks' to suit their pay-masters."

But this week John Evans, co-ordinator of Cardiff Patients' Council which represents Mental Health Services in Cardiff and the Vale, hit back.

He said: "The future for Mental Health Services lies in proper treatment for patients in their homes with hospital being a last resort.

"To lose the funding for this to the 'improvement' of a ramshackle, unsafe and badly sited hospital would be betrayal of the increasing numbers of mental health patients needing proper care not institutions.

He said: "The closure of Sully Hospital was one of the Trust actions with which we agreed. The hospital was dangerous.

"As a building I believe it is unfit for human habitation, the idea of 'housing' patients or asylum seekers on this site is an insult to human rights. It is an example of the contempt which patients are subjected to by prejudiced ill-informed people."