High Intensity Rehab Programme briefing for January 2025

This is the first of a regular monthly briefing about the High Intensity Rehabilitation Programme at Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust - where we'll be moving from Ward 5 at the Newsam Centre to Parkside Lodge in Armley later this year.

Our vision is to provide high quality rehabilitation services to improve the mental health, psychological wellbeing, social inclusion and quality of life for people with complex mental health needs.

We are working to adapt our services to new NHS guidelines. This includes moving our Complex Rehabilitation Inpatient Service, currently located in Ward 5 at the Newsam Centre in Seacroft, to a redesigned and refurbished facility at Parkside Lodge in Armley.

This will provide inpatient rehabilitation services for men with complex psychosis and serious mental illnesses who have the right to live satisfying and valued lives, and be treated with dignity and respect. They will be supported by our expert and compassionate staff team who will be delivering therapeutic approaches that meet the diverse needs of these people.

Parkside Lodge will become home to a modern 18-bed single sex Level 2 Mental Health Rehabilitation Inpatient facility, including two self-contained flatlets. It will support men with the routine activities of daily living and provide safe, reliable, and effective rehabilitation and recovery services. Ultimately, we want to promote independence and help these men realise their full potential.

This facility will also help us reduce the need to send men out of the local area for inpatient treatment which is not the best way to support their rehabilitation

Latest project updates

Leeds City Council has granted us planning permission to make structural changes to the building. We expect to receive permission to go ahead with the exterior changes in February. This followed significant public consultation in the autumn of 2024.

The Trust is working with Integrated Health Projects (IHP) to take forward the bulk of the construction work – which has already started and is why you’ll see hoardings up around the perimeter of the site.

The Trust’s longstanding Private Finance Initiative (PFI) partner Mitie will be providing facilities management for the project, with design provided by architects Gilling Dod. Below is an artist’s impression of the refurbished Parkside Lodge from the air, showing off its revitalised outdoor space.

Artist impression of Parkside Lodge development

What’s coming up

New commissioning guidance published by NHS England in 2024 now defines inpatient rehabilitation as a two-level approach: namely Level 1 and Level 2. We are working to adapt our current service model at Ward 5 Newsam to become a Level 2 High Intensity Rehabilitation service which would provide a range of inpatient treatment but offer more intensive support to people to meet their needs. We are aligning the Ward 5 service model with the new commissioning guidance – moving to working as a stand-alone unit as the focus is more on high intensity rehabilitation as part of the rehabilitation inpatient services offer.

You can find this new commissioning guidance on the NHS England website here.

Staff and service users at Ward 5 Newsam are being kept up to date and involved in developments. We are setting up an online mechanism to capture feedback from staff, including anonymously if preferred, which will go live in February.

We’re anticipating running a small recruitment campaign in the Spring to bring the staffing numbers up to the required levels for the new service. One of our aims is to try and recruit new team members from the local area.

There will be exciting opportunities for staff and service users to influence the interior design, artwork and landscaping of their new home – more information will be shared about this soon. We will also be co-producing new information for service users and their families and carers about what life will be like and what to expect at Parkside Lodge.

As things stand, we expect to get the keys for a revamped Parkside Lodge in the summer with service users moving in shortly after that. Before then, we hope to be able to share more artist impressions and organise some site visits when its safe.

We’ll leave you with this picture taken of Parkside during the recent snowfall . . .

Parkside Lodge during snow January 2025

 

 


Page last updated: 5th Feb 2025 5:15pm