Specialist Mental Health Service for Young People.

Ballyclare, Northern Ireland

Affinity Healthcare has recently gained permission to launch a specialist mental health service for young people.  Young people and their families have been travelling to mainland UK for treatment for many years and some young people have been treated on adult wards within the Province.  The comprehensive and specialist new service aims to treat up to 30 inpatients and provide a further 12 daycare places for young people aged between 13 and 18  from a new-build facility on a 14-acre site in Ballyclare.

The Ballyclare facility will provide a similar specialist care pathway to that offered at Cheadle Royal Hospital. The Cheadle young people’s service launched in 2004 and is now established as a major provider of complex mental health services to the NHS in the north west and beyond.

Mental health disorders in young people impact significantly on the lives of those affected and on the quality of life of those around them.  Wider society also pays a high price for the failure to tackle these problems effectively. Collectively the cost is reflected in social disruption, poor educational attainment, physical and mental ill health, anti-social behaviour and the financial cost related to each of these.

Affinity Healthcare will work in partnership with a wide group of professionals in launching this new service into Northern Ireland. The development provides new career and employment opportunities into the area, coupled with a locally provided specialist service for local young people and their families.

To discuss career opportunities hrcrh@affinityhealth.co.uk

To view the plans please select below

Plans | CGI Images

Proposed CAMHS Unit – Ballycare

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To view BBC Northern Ireland News excerpt click here

  • The service will provide:

    • between 8 and 10 psychiatric intensive care beds
    • 24 general mental health beds providing for a wide range of conditions.
    • 12 places for daycare
    • dedicated classrooms and specialist equipment for three teachers and one   teaching  assistant
    • overnight accommodation for parents/guardians/carers to ensure that a patient admitted in crisis can be stabilised as quickly as possible with their support.