Plans to close an award-winning mental health centre could push patients over the edge and even lead to deaths, it is being warned.

Campaigner Joanne Ousey, who suffers bipolar syndrome, says the removal of the vital respite care at the Moor Lane Centre, in Burley-in-Wharfedale, could push a number of its users over the edge.

Joanne, who has used facilities at the centre for the past ten years, spoke out yesterday as a public consultation about the changes was about to begin.

Struggling to remain composed, she told Wharfedale Newspapers: “I am devastated. We have been lied to and tricked into a false sense of security. We knew they were going to close the centre but they kept on denying it.

“That is no way to treat people who are suffering from mental health problems and I strongly believe that there will be a few deaths as a result of this move. They have broken up a family – a family which supported people like me in times of desperation.

“What are we going to do now?”

Just last month, health bosses revealed new plans to redesign mental health services across the Bradford District.

The changes could spell the end for the in-patient rehabilitation services at Moor Lane – despite assurances from a healthcare trust earlier this year.

Bradford District Care Trust temporarily allayed patients’ fears in January, by confirming that services were not going to move to Airedale General Hospital – a move patients claimed would ‘depersonalise’ their treatment.

Now a review of adult mental health services across the district is proposing to move services out of Moor Lane for good.

A public consultation about the changes was due to be held at the centre as this newspaper went to print.

But despite assurances from health officials that patients’ views would be taken into consideration before a decision was made, users of the service remain unconvinced.

Joanne said: “The consultation means nothing to us. The services at Moor Lane have continually been wound down and now there are only two beds there – which in their eyes justifies its closure. But it is they who have taken this facility away from us without a single thought to what we want or are going through. They are not going to take our views into consideration now.”

Her fears were backed up by a Keighley woman who is also a patient but who asked not to be named.

She said: “I am going into that meeting without any hope whatsoever. Everyone who used the centre feels so let down – our feelings don’t seem to count.

“I am still heavily medicated but, despite that, my main support network is continually being taken away. My consultant has recently said she doesn’t think she needs to see me any more.

“Then I received a letter telling me that they hoped I got better soon and asking me to go to the library if I needed any help and see what was on offer! It’s ridiculous. They obviously have no idea of what people like me go through.

“We were able to phone the centre whenever we were in crisis and the staff knew us and would talk us through our difficulties. That service has now gone and we are left to talk to strangers.”

At a meeting of Bradford Council’s health improvement committee last month it was proposed to move in-patient rehabilitation care from the Burley centre to the Daisy Bank centre in Bradford initially, eventually relocating the services to the Lynfield Mount Hospital in the city.

However, the consultation document, which invited comments from users, offered the option of leaving services as they were.

It identified a number of problems with the current system, claiming the need for in-patient services was dwindling, and that facilities at Moor Lane were dated.

It states: “In deciding what to do about the Moor Lane Centre we need to think about options for people who use the respite services from Airedale, Craven and Wharfedale.

“With much more emphasis now on providing care in people’s homes, we know that care should not be based in hospitals and that it should be offered in a way that is right for the individual.

“To enable greater choice of respite, care co-ordinators now work with service users to meet their needs in the best way for them.

“The majority of people using this approach will be getting care that they have chosen themselves and which better matches their needs.”

It goes on to state: “For those people who occasionally need accommodation and 24-hour support, current arrangements will be extended. Partnerships can be established with existing residential units in the community staffed 24 hours a day such as Hilltop Cottages in Bradford and Oakvale in Keighley.”

The consultation is due to last until January when the PCT will consider all the views received through the document and a decision about the services will then be made at board level.

If the trust decides to close the centre, services would be wound down by March 31, 2009.

Matt Neligan, director of commissioning at Bradford and Airedale Teaching Primary Care Trust (tPCT) said: “We are currently consulting about a range of community mental health services, including respite care and rehabilitation services. We are keen to hear people’s views about how services could be delivered better in the future.

“The public consultation will run until January 11, 2009, and will capture opinions about possible changes. The views of patients and their families are a key part of the decision-making process and no decisions will be made until after the consultation ends.”

Future public meetings will take place on, Monday, November 17, 4 to 6pm, at Keighley Cougars, Cougar Park, Keighley; Tuesday, November 25, 12.30 to 2.30pm, at Bradford Central Library, Bradford; and Thursday, November 27, 6 to 8pm, at Skipton Town Hall, Skipton.