A water supply colonised by bacteria is driving a £10.5million project to move mental health services across Bristol.
Facing a £2million bill after legionella was detected at older buildings at Southmead Hospital in 2016, staff have fit costly micro-filters on every tap, frequently flushed them and rigorously monitored water temperatures, but it is not sustainable, according to a business case.
The issue affects all of Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership (AWP)’s wards at the hospital but is limited to its estate there, which also suffers from a £3.3million maintenance backlog and risks to patients from potential ligature points and poor sight lines that mean issues escalate before they can be addressed.
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Its seven-mile move to smaller wards at Callington Road Hospital in Brislington - maintaining the same number of beds - “will be considerably more effective in treating patients, with a more relaxed management style, few 'pressure points' in the communal spaces, less opportunity or temptation to engage in negative behaviours such as climbing, self-harm or aggression”.
A business case approved by the Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) on March 1 said: “This revised configuration will support a reduced length of stay for patients through an improved therapeutic environment and thus support increased patient throughput.
“This reduced length of stay will enable more patients to be treated within AWP hosted beds and contribute towards an overall reduction in the use of out of area inpatient beds. These beds can often be out of region, displacing patients from their local area at a time of acute crisis.”
The move, funded by £7.5million from NHS England and £3million in local money, is expected to result in annual savings of £1million.
Peter Tilley, AWP’s deputy finance director, told the CCG’s governing body: “The wards need significant money spending on them to bring them up to modern standards. We would effectively have to rebuild them but would not get the benefits of a campus layout, which wouldn’t represent value for money.
“This will hopefully support a reduction in our out of area needs. It will have significant, quantifiable benefits to patients.
"Oakwood at 23 beds is a ward we’ve really struggled to recruit consultants to. It’s not attractive. Hopefully we will be able to compete and recruit.”
The CCG's chief executive Julia Ross said she was surprised the project would not increase the number of beds, given the level of demand. Mr Tilley said in a “perfect world” AWP would build an extra ward at Callington Road but it was bound by the terms of the 2018 funding application.
The CCG governing body voted to approve the business case. No decisions have yet been made about the wards that are being vacated by AWP.
A spokesperson for North Bristol NHS Trust, which manages Southmead, said: “We are considering multiple options, all of which will take into account the current condition of the buildings and costs necessary to bring them up to standard.
“The water issues reported by AWP regarding their estate relate only to the AWP buildings which are separate from the NBT buildings.”
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