A NEW mental health unit at Guild Lodge in Goosnargh, which will serve people across Lancashire.

Patients have moved into Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust’s new unit ‘Fellside’, which has 20 ‘step down’ beds and five independent ‘flatlets’, remotely supervised by staff.

Step-down care is provided for people who have left hospital but are not yet ready to live fully independently.

Tim Riding, network director for secure services said: “This unit will have state of the art facilities, and the service will provide an effective care pathway for service users on their road to recovery, ensuring their stay in secure care is for the shortest period possible.”

The Cottages alongside Fellside on the Guild Park site have also been redeveloped and renamed ‘Forest Beck’, providing step down rehabilitation for women who have received a period of secure mental health care.

The existing development known as The Hermitage has been re-commissioned as a step-down rehabilitation facility for eight men who have previously acquired a head injury, which has led to them having to receive a period of secure care.