Green light for £48m mental health centres

DEVELOPER LSHP and Mersey Care NHS Trust have received funding approval from the Treasury to build two new mental health centres in Liverpool at a cost of £48m.

The two mental health facilities are being built on sites in Walton and at Edge Lane.  Work is due to start on both by Spring 2012, although demolition of the former Walton Hospital site off Rice Lane in Liverpool has already begun.

Planning approval for both schemes has already been granted with no public objections raised against either, which LSHP’s chief executive Graham Pink said was “practically unheard of” on projects of this size.

He added: “I am delighted that we now have government approval to go ahead with the plans for these two new Mersey Care facilities. The fact that we also have such a strong level of local support highlights the level of involvement that local communities have had throughout the process.”

Mersey Care project pirector John Doyle said: “The two new mental health facilities are an important part of our commitment to providing people with easily accessible healthcare that is modern, friendly and located right in the heart of the community, near to where they live.”

Both of the new hospitals are expected to be completed by the end of 2013.