A LANDMARK £5 million building has changed the skyline of a deprived Stoke-on-Trent community and will transform the care of scores of psychiatric patients in the city and beyond.

Directors at St Augustine’s Hospital have told health reporter Dave Blackhurst how they hope it will also help remove the stigma attached by many to mental illness.

RESIDENTS protested when plans were announced to create a rehabilitation hospital in a densely populated part of the city centre.

There were concerns about the nature of the people the St Augustine's Hospital in Cobridge would treat.

But less than two years on, and with the structure now towering over a busy Potteries junction, most of those fears have vanished.

Bosses at the first privately-run complex of its type in North Staffordshire say it fills a gap in local NHS provision for those with a mental illness.

The unit, with its 32 en suite bedrooms, has more of the feel of a plush hotel than a psychiatric setting. Yet its patients are all funded by the NHS.

St Augustine's caters for men aged between 18 and 65 who have completed their mainstream treatment in bigger state hospitals, such as the Harplands at Hartshill, and need between 18 months and two years of rehabilitation before resuming their normal independent lives in the community.

Ten people have already been admitted to the two-storey site, in Cobridge Road, where there is one nurse for every two patients.

They are recovering from conditions such as schizophrenia, bipolar affective disorder and depression.

Some will still be sectioned under the Mental Health Act, but have been brought into the low-risk category by treatment at their source hospital.

Director of operations Noel Tracey said: "Although we are a private hospital, we work hand-in-hand with the local NHS, and all our patients are paid for by primary care trusts.

"We have aimed for surroundings rivalling the best at any private hospital because we believe that will help take away the stigma which still surrounds mental illness.

"Government mental health policy of the 1990s was to empty the larger hospitals and move to community care, but that met only limited success. So you now get the revolving door syndrome where people can be continually discharged but then need re-admitting as their health deteriorates again.

"Our role is to fill that gap and, besides helping patients by equipping them with the proper skills to flourish in the community, the NHS will be saving money by not having to keep taking them back into hospital."

St Augustine's is the flagship of 12 hospitals opened over the last five years by Cambian Healthcare.

Bigger than the others, which span England and Wales, it has become the group's national training centre for clinical and support staff.

The facility, which has risen from the site of a former nursing home and refugee hostel, was chosen for North Staffordshire because significant patient numbers from the region were already being referred to its other hospitals in Wolverhampton and Manchester.

Bright and airy and costing more than £5 million, it has wide corridors, kitchens, lounges and other rooms, dominated by huge murals of natural scenes which are both relaxing and therapeutic.

Its 60-plus staff have been recruited from the local area, including some from the pottery industry.

The workforce has two consultant psychiatrists, two psychologists, two occupational therapists, 15 nurses, 30 healthcare assistants and support staff. Its kitchens prepare food on the premises and source locally.

St Augustine's has also made attempts to build bridges with the Cobridge community.

Hospital manager Victor Takadiwa, who, like Mr Tracey has a background as mental health nurse and manager in the NHS spanning many years, said: "I have been to a number of residents' meetings and found them very supportive. We also organised a tour for them.

"We are trying to link with nearby churches, businesses, sports clubs and other organisations, and are even sponsoring Wolstanton Football Club. We want to play a major part in Cobridge life and help in its regeneration."

Resident Bernard Wragg, pictured below, of Elm Street, said: "St Augustine's is certainly an impressive building. Some people are still wary about who will be in there, but now it is here we should accept and welcome it as part of Cobridge.

"With all the problems we have had here down the years, it has been fantastic to also get a new primary care centre approved, but we fear the city council is starting to get complacent again.

"For example we haven't had our streets cleaned for seven weeks."

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