Member Article

Priory invests £6.1m in redevelopment of specialist hospital in Lickey Hills Country Park, creating new ‘mental health hub’ in West Midlands

• Priory Hospital Barnt Green opens to patients • Creates more than 100 local jobs • Mental health estimated to cost the local NHS £2 billion a year • Priory Woodbourne Hospital, in Edgbaston, will focus on specialist private addiction services in addition to its wide range of services for NHS patients • Mental health phone lines run by the NHS answered 120,000 ‘crisis calls’ in 2021 in the West Midlands

Local people requiring urgent NHS or private mental health treatment close to home will soon have access to a newly developed hospital, which is opening its doors after a £6.1m refurbishment.

Priory Hospital Barnt Green, which is due to officially open this month, will be fully regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and extends mental health service provision across the region, during a period of soaring demand.

Alongside this facility, specialist services for patients requiring ongoing treatment for addiction will be available at the Priory Hospital Woodbourne, Edgbaston. Priory Hospital Woodbourne also specialises in the management and treatment of a wide range of mental health for NHS patients.

The reconfiguring of these sites signals the creation of two ‘centres of excellence for access to mental health and addiction support’ for people across the Midlands.

The redevelopment of Priory Hospital Barnt Green hospital – which will also see the creation of more than 100 job opportunities – will treat NHS patients but includes a 10-bed inpatient ward for private patients who are either self-funding or have private health insurance.

The hospital is surrounded by countryside with access to outdoor garden areas, communal lounges, an activity room and multi-faith space. The ward also has a therapy room, a gym and yoga suite. For those receiving support as an outpatient, there are nine large private therapy rooms and four group rooms.

Across the UK, Priory has seen a 52% increase in private patient inquiries around stress, while inquiries around depression and anxiety have risen 47% and 33% respectively in the last 12 months.

The hospital will be staffed by psychiatrists, psychologists and a number of individual, group and family therapists, providing therapy and treatments for a broad range of mental health conditions including depression, anxiety, stress, eating disorders, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and mental health conditions due to bereavement and grief.

The hospital will help ease pressures on local services, after it was reported that the rate of attendance at A&E for people with mental health conditions in the West Midlands Combined Authority is high, at 180 per 100,000*

Rebekah Cresswell, Priory CEO, said: “I am really proud that we are opening Priory Barnt Green which will provide expert mental health support for individuals, couples and families, at a time when they need it most. It is a beautiful, tranquil and therapeutic environment, which has been designed to fully support recovery, wellbeing and enable people to live their lives to the fullest.”

Philip Petts, Hospital Director at Priory Hospital Barnt Green, said: “Our team is delighted to be opening the doors to this modern and much-anticipated fully refurbished hospital, which will offer both NHS and private mental health care to many local people in need of our services and expertise.

“This is a beautiful hospital, in a calming location, for those suffering from a mental health condition who come to us for treatment and recovery. The quality of the environment will be hard to beat. The team at Barnt Green are highly qualified and have a passion to help people in our care. We are all looking forward to supporting people in the West Midlands and the surrounding area.”

Roles which are currently being recruited range from psychiatrists, psychologists and psychotherapists to nurses and healthcare assistants as well as a wide range of hospital administrative posts.

Dr Ashraf Nasr, Consultant Psychiatrist at Priory Hospital Barnt Green and Priory Hospital Woodbourne, treats patients with mental health conditions including depression, anxiety and OCD. He said: “The hospital meets much-needed demand in the area. Those with mental health conditions need to receive the right treatment at the right time. Patients will benefit from a brighter, more spacious environment and our staff will find it easier to help patients and seek any support they need from colleagues.

“We have ensured that contractors worked very closely with our staff on every aspect of the redesign – they know what works best for them and for patients.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Jo Hudson .