New children's service for Kent

SLaM is investing more than £6 million in buying and updating a former drug rehab unit to provide Kent's first county-wide specialist NHS children's mental health centre. This will mean children will no longer have to travel to London to receive care.

Winthrop Hall, in Staplehurst, near Maidstone is a multi-million pound state-of-the-art centre which will help children and teenagers in Kent and Medway with severe mental health problems.

NHS Eastern and Coastal Kent, NHS West Kent and NHS Medway have commissioned SLaM to provide the inpatient facility plus a new 24-hour specialist community-based service which will open in spring 2011.

The new-look service will provide intensive support for children with complex mental health needs including specialist assessments and treatment and inpatient care for children in a crisis.

Support for children with mental health problems such as depression and eating disorders will be on hand 24 hours a day.

"We are delighted to have been given the opportunity to provide inpatient care for children and adolescents with complex mental health problems living in Kent and Medway," said Paul Calaminus, Service Director for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services at SLaM.

"We will provide specialist care and treatment for this vulnerable group of young people, including 24/7 access to inpatient care, helping them to recover from illness and get their lives back on track.  We look forward to working with local health and social care services."