About the consultation and how to get involved

Home » Get involved » Consultation and engagement » Consultation: Inpatient Mental Health Services (south east Staffordshire) » About the consultation and how to get involved

9 February 2023

You can take part in this consultation until midnight on Thursday 23 March 2023. (This consultation has now closed)

This consultation is about the future of inpatient mental health services (when people need to stay in hospital) following a fire at the George Bryan Centre building in Tamworth. It considers future services for:

adults with severe mental illness
older adults with severe mental illness or dementia.

Our priority is to deliver quality mental healthcare for patients in their own home or community, whenever possible, rather than in hospital. This model of care is the national ambition set out in the NHS Long Term Plan. It is based on the latest clinical evidence, which shows that this approach gives the best outcomes for most patients.

This is not new – we have been working with our partners and investing in our community mental health services for many years. We have enhanced our community teams and built better ways of working that help us meet the national goals – like making community services easier to access and giving people more choice and control over their treatment.

For the small number of patients who do need a hospital stay, we want to make sure they have a joined-up care plan in place. It is important that the right specialist staff are on-hand to give them the best care.

We know that our hospital mental health services cannot operate on their own and need to be part of an integrated mental health system. We have been investing in our community mental health services for many years, so that they can provide good care for the large majority of patients who do not need a hospital stay.

This consultation is not about the future use of the George Bryan Centre in Tamworth; this will be the subject of further discussions at a later date depending on the outcome of this consultation.

Our proposal is about where we provide the inpatient (hospital bed) services that were previously provided at the George Bryan Centre. These are services for people living in south east Staffordshire: adults (aged 18–65) with severe mental illness, and older adults (aged 65 and over) with severe mental illness or dementia.

How you can have your say

We welcome all responses to this consultation. The deadline for responses to the survey is midnight on Thursday 23 March 2023. (the consultation has now closed)

We want to hear your views about the proposal, and about any ways we can help people if these changes are made. We also want to understand any other proposals for the future of inpatient mental health services in south east Staffordshire that we may not have considered.

It is important to take the time to read the consultation document and supporting information and let us know what you think. The document explains our proposal for a service change which may affect you, your family, your friends or the people you care for.

In the consultation document, we explain how we have reached the recommendation to keep services at St George’s Hospital, but any decision about future service change will consider the results of this consultation. Your views will help us decide how we shape inpatient mental health services in the area.

You can find the consultation document and useful information, as well as case studies, here

Ways to have your say

Complete the survey:

You can fill in the survey online on our website.

Attend an event:

You can join one of our online events:

Online event: Friday 3 March 2023, 1pm-4pm. (this event has now passed)
Online event: Thursday 9 March 2023, 10am-1pm. (this event has now passed)

You can come along to one of our drop-in roadshow events:

Lichfield Library, Market St, Lichfield WS13 6LG: Thursday 23 February, 10.30am – 2.30pm (this event has now passed)
Asda, Ventura Park Rd, Tamworth B78 3HB: Monday 6 March, 10.30am – 2.30pm (this event has now passed)
Burton Library, High Street, Burton-on-Trent, DE14 1AH: Friday 10 March, 10am – 2pm (this event has now passed)
Ankerside Shopping Centre, Tamworth B79 7LG: Thursday 16 March from 10.30am – 12.30pm – (this event has now passed)
Asda, Octagon Centre, Orchard St, Burton-on-Trent DE14 3TN: Friday 17 March, 10.30am – 2.30pm (this event has now passed)

Presentation and Q&A – evening event

You can come along to our presentation and Q&A event: The Lounge, The Coton Centre, Comberford Rd, Tamworth, B79 9AA: Tuesday 21 March, 6.00pm – 7.30pm (this event has now passed)

We may have to make changes to times or venues, so please check back here for updates.

Need help?

If you do not have access to the internet, would like printed copies of the document, or need information in different formats or languages, please call us on 0333 150 3069.

Completed paper copies of the survey should be sent to: Freepost Plus RTAA-XTHA-LGGC, Communications, Heron House, 120 Grove Road, Stoke-on-Trent ST4 4LX. There is no need to use a stamp.

If you have additional feedback you would like to share, you are welcome to send this to us by email mlcsu.involvement@nhs.net or through our Freepost address (see above).

We will also be carefully monitoring social media during the consultation:

Tweet us @staffsstokeics
Follow us on Facebook at StaffsStokeICS

If you would like to receive regular updates on the development of the long-term solution, email us at mlcsu.involvement@nhs.net and we will add you to the mailing list.