TRANSFORMING SECURE CARE PATHWAY
REPROVISION OF MEDIUM SECURE SERVICES
INFORMATION LEAFLET
Mersey Care NHS Trust provides mental health, learning disability, acquired brain injury and addiction services throughout Merseyside, as well as secure care services across a wider area.
The Scott Clinic in Rainhill has been delivering high quality medium secure care services for more than 30 years. However, modern health and national secure service standards mean that the building is no longer ‘fit for purpose’ and radical change is needed so we can continue to treat people well, while making best use of our resources.
To achieve our aim of improving the quality of medium secure services, we are proposing to build a new, 90-bed facility on our Maghull site
We are hosting a number of public meetings to outline our proposals for the future of medium secure care services.
- 23 January at 1.30pm - 3.30pm at St Helens RFC, Langtree Park, St Helens, Merseyside
- 30 January at 1.00pm - 3.00pm at Maghull Town Hall, Hall Lane, Maghull, Merseyside L31 7BB
- 4 February at 6.30pm - 8.30pm at Room F1, Indigo, Maghull Site, Parkbourn, Maghull, Liverpool L31 1HW
We welcome your attendance at any of the meetings so that you can find out what our plans are.
We hope the questions and answers below will also provide you with some clarification around issues that you may feel are relevant.
Why have we chosen the Maghull site for the new building?
The Scott Clinic in St Helens is geographically isolated from any of our other services which can cause difficulties in relation to staffing. Co-locating to Maghull will create a secure campus which allows us to share clinical expertise across secure services and also will help us to improve our ability to provide training for all our staff.
What is the timetable for the new facility?
We anticipate that the new facility will be occupied by Winter 2017.
Who will be cared for within the new unit?
As is the case now in Scott Clinic, this unit will provide care for male and female individuals who live in the Merseyside and Cheshire areas and who are suffering with illnesses such as schizophrenia which require specialist treatment in hospital. The patients are liable to be detained under the Mental Health Act 1983. Some of our patients may have committed offences.
We’ve heard that a third party will also have patients in the building, who are they?
Calderstones NHS Trust provides medium secure care for people with a mental illness and a learning disability. They will use one of the wards in the new facility.
How long are patients with us?
Patients who come into Scott Clinic are usually with us for a period of two years or so and our purpose is to help the individual recover from their mental illness and help to rehabilitate them to stop their offending behaviour.
What is the process for patients getting leave?
Part of a patient’s treatment includes managing the risk posed either to themselves or others and we use nationally recognised risk assessment processes in order to do this. The full care team will decide the point at which they believe the patient is well enough to begin to take leave. This is a very managed and procedural process starting with patients being escorted in the grounds with staff and progressing into the community.
How often are patients let out on leave?
This is very much decided on an individual patient basis.
Where will the patients be able to go when on leave?
Most patients when on leave want to spend time in activity, ie shopping, gym, cinema, and with their family and friends. Leave is agreed for a specific purpose which for example may include any of the above.
Has anyone not returned from leave in the last two years?
There have been two incidents in the last two years when a patient was late returning from leave. Both patients returned of their own volition.
What happens when patients are discharged from Scott Clinic?
There are several options for discharge from Scott Clinic.
Some patients who come from prison may return to prison when they are well.
Some will transfer to a lower level of security for on-going rehabilitation.
Very occasionally some to a higher level of security. Some patients may go to our Step Down Unit for further rehabilitation (this is not a secure building). Other patients will be discharged home into the community.
When patients are discharged there is a full care package put in place.
How will the movement of patients from Scott Clinic to Maghull be safely managed?
Patients will be transported safely from the Scott Clinic to the new facility. All patients will be transported on the same day. A transportation plan will be drawn up prior to the exercise being carried out.
How much will it cost to build the unit?
The new building will cost £42 million. The Trust will borrow some of this money from the NHS Building Fund.
Will there be a security fence?
Yes, the fence will comply with Medium Secure Specification and will surround the whole of the building. To lessen the impact of the fence when entering the site the fence will be screened by landscaped trees and greenery.
How will the build affect local residents?
The building will be sited a distance from local housing and we do not anticipate there being any issues.
How will people access the new building?
Access to the building will be via the existing Maghull site entrance.
Will there be enough car parking on the site?
The architects and Trust Estates Department have confirmed there will be adequate car parking space on the site. There will be no need for staff or visitors to park off site.
What plans are in place for heavy plant, machinery, dust, noise, site safety?
The contractors that have been appointed are very experienced in building facilities of this type and will keep disruption to a minimum. Information regarding plans for this will be published prior to the build starting.
Has planning permission been granted?
No. We plan to apply for planning permission in late Spring 2015
What happens to the land at Scott Clinic?
Within the Trust’s Estates Strategy the plan is to sell the land.
How many new staff will be coming to work at Maghull?
We anticipate there will be approximately 250 staff working within the new facility. However, some of the staff will be shift workers and so not all staff will be on site at the same time. We would expect there to be approximately 160 staff on site at any one time. This is significantly less than the 350 staff who worked daily on the site when the Trust Headquarters were based at Maghull.
How will this new clinic effect the flow of traffic around Maghull?
We do not expect there to be any significant effect on traffic because most staff will be travelling from the Liverpool & St Helens areas and will travel via the motorway network which does not impact on Maghull.
What affects will this have on local wildlife, trees, landscaping?
Although a small number of trees will need to be felled to enable to build, it is planned to plant a large number of trees and shrubbery to both the interior and exterior of the build site. This will both enhance the appearance of the site and also contribute to attracting wildlife to the area.
Will there be additional jobs created?
We anticipate there will be a significant number of jobs created and as a number of our staff reach retirement age we anticipate that there will be a continual turnover of staff and therefore jobs available.
What will the facility look like?
We are yet to finish the detail of the design but this is a sample of what it could look like
For more information
Please go to and click on “Medium Secure Consultation” tile.
Thank you for taking the time to read this information leaflet.