First patients from St Andrews relocate to Yeovil

Today marks an important milestone in the delivery of mental health services across the county, with the relocation of St Andrews ward in Wells, to the new mental health in-patient ward in Yeovil.

Over the last few weeks, final preparations have been taking place to ensure that the new ward is ready to welcome patients from the current stand-alone ward at St Andrew’s in Wells.

The new ward in Yeovil will continue to provide fifteen in-patient beds, supported by an experienced mental health team that will provide care for people with acute mental health needs. It is located next to the existing Rowan ward 1, that has also been extensively refurbished.

The  multi-disciplinary team in the new Rowan ward garden.

The ward will care for people with acute mental health needs and will enable us to provide safer care for those who need this level of mental health support. Replacing the ward provided at St Andrews, the new Rowan ward 2, has been purpose built and designed to meet the needs of our patients.

In addition to the four adult acute in-patient wards across the county, there are a broad range of other community based mental health services available. Over a number of years, the Open Mental Health alliance in Somerset, of which we are part, has expanded the range of mental health support that is available in communities in Somerset.

Hazel Armstrong, clinical services manager for both Rowan wards said: “We’re so pleased to be able to welcome our patients from St Andrews this week. A lot of thought and hard work has gone in to the build and refurbishment of both of our wards. We’re looking forward to working closely with our teams, to provide the best standard of care.

“We know that it isn’t an easy move for some of our patients and their loved ones, our teams will be on hand to welcome and support our patients in their transition on to the new ward. We are very mindful about the potential impact of this move, and we will continue to work alongside people that matter for our patients and maintain the close links that we have with local mental health services in Mendip”.

Patients on both Rowan wards are now able to access a range of facilities including their own en-suite bedroom, an activity room, a communal lounge, a separate female lounge, dining room, outdoor space, private quiet spaces, a family room, a gym, and a kitchen.

Dining room                                        Private bedroom                            Lounge area

Multi-disciplinary teams are located on-site to cover both wards and provide 24 hour, safe and compassionate care, seven days a week. The team includes specialist mental health doctors, nurses, psychologists, occupational therapists, health care assistants, service assistants, ward clerks, and activity organisers.

Ward manager, Claire Cook, explains: "We know that every patient’s needs are different. We work with patients and the people who matter to them the most, alongside our multi-disciplinary teams to provide individualised care to support patients in their recovery.

“The relocation to Yeovil enables us to provide safer care for our patients, with additional access to 24 hour medical cover, seven days a week, as well as being a lot closer to Yeovil District Hospital”.

Bernie Marden, Chief Medical Officer, NHS Somerset, said: “After years of careful planning and hard work, it is really positive to see the opening of the specially designed ward in Yeovil.

“The relocation has always been about ensuring we are able to provide safer, better-quality care to those most in need, as well as being able to provide greater resilience and ensuring that patients receive the best care possible.

“In Somerset our focus is on proactively supporting individuals’ mental health needs at a local, community level. Providing more support for people in their own homes or community settings. We believe that this is an important part of the recovery process. Our Community Mental Health teams and Open Mental Health helps to support people earlier on, reducing the need for further intervention.”

The ward is one of four adult acute inpatient wards in Somerset, with two wards now being located in Yeovil, and two in Taunton.

Somerset’s mental health alliance, Open Mental Health, provides 24/7 community-based mental health support to adults in Somerset and services include holistic wellbeing workers; 1 to 1 and group support; psychologists; mental health nurses; peer support; occupational therapists; money, benefits and housing support; older and young people specialists; eating disorder specialists; and developmental trauma specialists.

The focus is to support people as close to home as possible, in their communities, through a range of local services.

Additional information

You can find out more information about both Rowan wards and the range of mental health services provided in Somerset later on our website. We've also created a short video to show you round the new Rowan ward.

Information and support in a crisis can also be found on the Open Mental Health website

The decision to relocate the stand-alone inpatient mental health ward from Wells to Yeovil was made by the NHS in Somerset after a public consultation in early 2020.