A MENTAL health campaigner says she was too scared to call an NHS crisis team in case she was taken to a unit in Devizes.

The comments came ahead of a planned protest tomorrow, with campaigners calling on health service chiefs to reinstate a mental health place of safety suite at Swindon’s Sandalwood Court hospital.

The place of safety, where people suffering a mental health crisis are assessed, was closed for a temporarily last March for a 12 month period. Patients were instead taken to an expanded unit at Green Lane Hospital.

Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership Trust, which runs the hospitals, says closing the Swindon place of safety will help improve treatment waiting times. By law, anyone sectioned under the Mental Health Act cannot be detained for over 24 hours. An update on the future of the Swindon place of safety is expected this month.

But the proposals have been unpopular with campaigners. Ann Mooney, who set up Swindon’s Service User Network Support group, said: “I’ve been mentally unwell and have had suicidal thoughts. But my family took care of me because I was too scared to call the crisis team in case they sent the police and took me to Devizes away from my boys who don’t drive so could not come to see me. Taking me away from my family would have just made me worse. They need to bring back our place of safety, in fact they should have one in every trust area.”

A protest organised by Keep Our NHS Public will meet outside Sandalwood Court, Highworth Road, at 10.30am on Friday, March 22.

Kate Linnegar Labour’s prospective parliamentary candidate for North Swindon, claimed AWP and Swindon CCG had not looked at alternative locations for a place of safety or seconded staff from other mental health trusts. She said: “They have had a year, I don’t feel there is a will to achieve a place of safety in Swindon, a town with over 230,000 residents.”

Responding, a spokesman for Swindon NHS Clinical Commissioning Group said: “As the commissioners of local healthcare, it’s important that the services we plan for the town are not only representative of people’s needs, but also meet the necessary safety and quality requirements of the national regulators.

“The Care Quality Commission was explicit in saying that changes had to be made to Swindon’s Place of Safety Suite, which was why the temporary closure was first brought in and why we, along with Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, have continued to keep people updated and ask for their views at every stage.

“All feedback collected over the last 12 months will be used to help us reach an informed decision regarding the future of the facility but, until such a decision has been made, mental health patients needing to be detained will continue to go to Devizes, where they will receive the specialist care they need before being taken home later the same day.”

Mathew Page, chief operating officer for Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust chief operating officer, said: “The Care Quality Commission identified that the Swindon place of safety required improvements.

“An alternative model of provision was agreed by AWP and Swindon and Wiltshire CCGs, which resulted in the temporary closure of the facility at Sandalwood Court and provision of a new single Health Based Place of Safety for people in Swindon and Wiltshire, located in Devizes.

“Swindon CCG, on behalf of the two CCGs, is leading on the evaluation of this pilot, which has included gathering feedback from service users and partners at every stage.

“The analysis within the evaluation requires further time before it is completed and submitted to NHS England. Swindon and Wiltshire CCGs, along with AWP, have agreed that the pilot at the Bluebell Unit at Green Lane Hospital in Devizes will continue to operate until the evaluation process is complete and to ensure high standards of service and availability continue.

“The place of safety is for people who are taken there by the police when there are significant concerns for their safety and wellbeing, often experiencing high levels of distress. People taken to a place of safety are assessed by mental health professionals to determine whether they have a mental health condition and are offered appropriate intervention and support to meets their identified needs.”