Commissioned by the Provider Collaborative, the services are delivered by Southern Health at Leigh House in Winchester.
The new day service will enable young people in Hampshire to stay at home and receive treatment rather than be admitted to hospital.
The refurbished 10-bedded inpatient ward will support young people who need a higher level of care. It has new en-suite facilities and each room has independent temperature settings, one of the first services to enable this. The ward has been designed to specifically consider the sensory needs of young people, paying particular attention to making it as sensory friendly as possible in terms of colour and layout to accommodate those with neurodiversity.
Official opening
To mark the official opening and celebrate with families and staff delivering the services, the ribbon was cut by a young person currently attending the day programme. There was also a tour of the new day service and inpatient unit and the opportunity to meet staff who were able to discuss and demonstrate the variety of types of therapy, support and education available to young people.
Sandy, (whose name has been changed to protect their identity) who cut the ribbon and attends the day service, said:
"I found coming to the day service challenging initially and it has been a hard journey. I have been greatly supported by the friendly staff. The day service has really helped me to think in a different way about anorexia and help me challenge thoughts that feel wrong. I feel more positive about my future recovery."
Sandy’s mum said:
"The Day Service including multi-therapy sessions has really helped me and my husband to get an insight into how the eating disorder has affected our family dynamic. It has also allowed us to relate to and understand how situations are for the other families. It looks like our daughter is recovering very fast from anorexia nervosa and we cannot imagine what would have happened if our daughter had not been referred to the Day Service in Winchester by our local CAMHS. We think that it is very important for the young children to receive treatment from eating disorder early on, as it will give the possibility to recover faster rather than having the illness for years. Thank you very much, Winchester Day Service for helping our child to get back to the normal life.”
Community support
Karen Dixon, Associate Director of Mental Health for CAMHS, Southern Health, said:
“We are delighted to officially open the new facilities and services we are now offering young people and their families. It’s been a huge undertaking developing the new day service and encouraging young people to have treatment where they go home at night, moving away from inpatient care where we can and supporting as many young people in the community as best we can.”
Louise Doughty, Programme Director for the Hampshire, Sussex, Kent CAMHS Provider Collaborative which commissions the service said:
“We are delighted to see the excellent work that had been done to refurbish the ward and are looking forward to the opening of this service ensuring we are able to offer a local service to our young people and their families once again.”
“There has been an increase in the need for treatment of eating disorders in young people. The day service will serve to meet this for local young people and families. It has been designed by listening to what young people and families want. The service will offer evidenced care in the least restrictive way, whilst optimising a young person's independence. This approach has been found to have the best prognosis for young people with eating disorders. We are excited about having another treatment option in Hampshire for young people and families.”