Anne Milton MP, a former nurse who has a background in caring for those with mental illness was impressed by the facilities and talked at length with Dr Geoghegan and Dr MacIntyre. The changes in procedure and treatment have enabled the centre to deliver better care, more quickly while reducing the need for patients to spend extended periods with the unit.
Dr Geoghegan has stated: “Mental illness is now the number one reason that people are off work - through anxiety, stress and depression where it used to be back pain. Yet the investment is not going into helping these people and supporting them."
He believes the recently opened facilities in Basildon and Rochford, and the imaginative approach adopted by the unit has seen real improvements in the way patients are cared for and has gone someway to compensate for that lack of investment.
Stephen Metcalfe said: he too was very impressed with what has been achieved in Basildon, the rapid response to patient needs and the desire to help those with mental illness back in to the community as quickly as appropriate has to be welcomed. He commented that there is a stigma surrounding mental illness and anything that can be done to break down that prejudice and help patients back into the wider community is excellent.
Photo: (LtoR)
Anne Milton, Conservative Shadow Minister for Health, Stephen Metcalfe, Prospective Conservative Member of Parliament for South Basildon & East Thurrock, Mrs Lorraine Cabel, Chairman of South Essex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and Dr Patrick Geoghegan, chief executive of the South Essex Partnership NHS Trust (Sept).
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