PATIENTS at an infirmary that was closed due to safety concerns have been sent to psychiatric hospitals up to 70 miles away.
Since the Care Quality Commission ordered Bootham Park Hospital, in York, to close its doors earlier this month, its patients have been relocated to hospitals in the North-East.
Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust, which has taken over running the mental health service, said 12 patients were being cared for at Roseberry Park in Middlesbrough, five at West Park, in Darlington, two at The Friarage, in Northallerton, two at Sandwell Park, in Hartlepool and one at Lanchester Road, in Durham.
Dr Bob Adams, a former senior psychiatrist at Bootham Park, warned increasing numbers of patients would be sent to out of area hospitals until the York hospital can be reopened or replaced. A new psychiatric hospital is not expected to be built in the city until January 2019.
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