CONCERNS are mounting for mental health provision across a wide area after NHS bosses confirmed plans for a new hospital and another for extra in-patient beds had both been ditched.

A joint health scrutiny committee for North Yorkshire, Leeds and York heard Tees, Esk and Wear NHS Trust state that instead of the inpatient services they would invest funding into care in community settings.

The meeting was told the trust had made a U-turn on a pledge to provide extra mental health beds in York to compensate for putting plans for a mental health hospital in Harrogate on hold.

And when pressed over whether the Harrogate facility remained an option despite the closure of Northallerton’s mental health ward this month, the trust’s chief executive Colin Martin said: “I can’t see a situation where we would be building the hospital that was originally planned.”

The meeting was told the decisions meant in-patient beds in North Yorkshire would have dropped from 150 to 90 in a year, putting pressure on services in surrounding areas.

Councillors representing areas near Leeds and York and deeply rural parts of North Yorkshire said the cuts would have disastrous consequences for residents.

Mr Martin denied the trust was “cutting access to in-patient services”, but added: “The physical number of beds will reduce. That’s part and parcel of national health policy - there’s a greater focus on home treatment.”

Nigel Ayre, operations manager of Healthwatch North Yorkshire, said combined with the loss of two facilities for people who are detained by police under the Mental Health Act, the further reduction in beds was “very alarming”. He said: “Travel distances will be increased significantly and those links between those people who are in-patient stay and their families will be much further away than they are now. Having said that we do welcome any investment in community services.”

The committee’s chairman, Councillor Jim Clark added: “It’s alright saying you will do more work in the community, but we need the facilities to be available in the community before we start closing the beds. We’ve already closed beds in Northallerton and it’s important we don’t close any further beds until the new mental health hospital is built in York in 2020.”