1,000 signatures reached
To: Croydon CCG and the South London & Maudsley NHS Trust
Save Foxley Lane Women's Service from being closed down
Please don't closed the Foxley Lane Women's Service. Croydon needs the 8-bed unit for women, aged 16-65, who have ongoing mental illness and are experiencing a mental health crisis.
Foxley Lane women’s service was opened in 1999 as an alternative to Bethlem Royal Hospital admission for women suffering a mental health crisis. It was developed through an extensive process of consultation with women service users, women’s organisations, the local community a range of agencies in Croydon.
Why is this important?
Foxley Lane Women's Service is an extremely valuable service that acts as an alternative to an acute clinical admission that Gresham 1 provides.
Foxley Lane provides weekly therapeutic timetable of activities that supports recovery from mental health crisis. This unparalleled service provides support, assessment, treatment and care for women in crisis from staff that are dedicated and passionate about the care they give.
With the closure of this service; women in crisis the alternatives will be admission to an acute ward on Gresham 1 at the Bethlem Royal Hospital. Gresham 1 can be noisy, threatening and scary with many patients struggling with an acute episode of psychosis. For women trying to recovery from a mental health crisis, Gresham 1 can cause further distress and for many women being discharged from Gresham they can and do leave more damaged than when they were admitted.
A another alternative being offered is home treatment which for many wouldn’t be an option as it can be home life that caused the relapse into crisis in the first place
Unfortunately, due primarily to lack of funding and changes to mental health services in Croydon, the Croydon CCG have made the decision to decommission Foxley Lane. This follows Croydon Health recently going into special measures due to poor finances.
Many of the service users that have had been a patient at Foxley recognise that the treatment and care provided is the best environment for women in crisis to recover. Many have stated that Foxley Lane has saved their lives.
Please read the proposal: http://www.hear-us.org/pdfccg/foxley-lanewomens-service-have-your-say.pdf
