Plan to close hospital wards met with dismay

3:00pm Saturday 10th May 2008

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PLANS to close mental health wards in Durham City have been greeted with dismay by the family of a resident.

The Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Trust want to close challenging behaviour units at the Earls House Hospital.

The mental health trust wants to transfer resident patients to more modern facilities in Bishop Auckland and Sedgefield.

But the close-knit family of Bob Swann, 77, from Chester-le-Street, who has been a resident on the Appletree ward for the last two years, want the trust to scrap their plans.

They fear the transfer of Mr Swann to the Auckland Park Hospital in Bishop Auckland will mean they will have to drastically reduce their visits.

Jean Swann, 78, who has been married to Bob for 56 years, is particularly worried.

At the moment I visit Bob three times a week. Although he has dementia he recognises me, gives me a cuddle and a kiss, she said.

Mrs Swann said she is in poor health and has two replacement knees which make it impossible for her to use most buses.

Currently she relies on either her daughter, Carole Miller, or her grand-daughter, Helen Miller, to give her a lift.

But because travelling to Bishop Auckland will take more like half-an-hour each way rather than ten minutes, Mrs Swann believes she will be unable to travel so frequently.

To complicate matters, her daughter suffers from multiple sclerosis and cannot drive for long periods and her granddaughter, Helen recently gave birth to two children.

I had a very close relationship with my granddad. I have always seen him on Christmas Day, said Helen Miller.

If he is moved, because I now have a young family, I probably wont be able to see him.

A spokesperson for the trust, said: "We understand Mr Swann's family's concerns and are in contact with them.

"These proposals are subject to a full public consultation and our trust board is keen to hear everyone's views before making a decision on the future of these services.

"The official public consultation will run from June 2 to September 7, 2008 and information will be available on our website www.tewv.nhs.uk or by contacting 01642 516457."