Two new mental health facilities embedded in a new community in south west London will help break the stigma around mental illness, an NHS Trust leader has said.
Vanessa Ford, the chief executive of South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust, told the Standard that the Trinity and Shaftesbury buildings on the Springfield Village site in Tooting would help local residents to seek help for mental illness at an earlier stage.
The buildings are home to a range of outpatient services and eight inpatient mental health wards.
Mental health hospitals have traditionally been ostracised from the communities they serve, contributing to mental health stigma.
Hundreds of staff from the Trust and the local community gathered to celebrate the official opening of Springfield Village on Wednesday. In addition to the two mental health hospitals, the new community includes over 800 new homes, shops, a public square and a 32-acre park – the biggest developed in London since the 2012 Olympics.
Ms Ford told the Standard: “By creating homes and parks alongside our hospitals, it creates a greater understanding of mental health and makes it less frightening. I really hope that will bring people forward to get help earlier. The earlier you get support with your mental health, the less likely you ever are to come into hospital. We have got a real opportunity to genuinely transform mental health and wellbeing for south west London.
“We have moved massively in terms of mental health in the past ten years, but environments like this will take us forward another ten years.”
In an open letter published on Wednesday, Ms Ford said: “For too long, large parts of the NHS mental health estate have been isolated from the people they serve, reflecting outdated, stigma-laden attitudes from years gone by. These days are now far behind us in South West London.”
The opening of the Village coincided with the 75th anniversary of the NHS.
The Springfield Village site comes as part of a £250m investment to develop new facilities across Wandsworth, Richmond and Kingston in line with local consultations.
