WESTMORLAND General Hospital is set to benefit from £150,000 investment in secure mental health services.

Plans for the new facilities, which will see 30 staff relocated to one unit, were shown to Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron at a launch on Monday.

While no new jobs are to be created, the move will secure the future of the service at WGH, which has seen services cut in recent years.

Services including the heart unit and some acute medical services have been lost and earlier this year threats to close the X-ray department were muted.

Work will begin early next year and will take six months to complete, but health bosses say that at no time will parts of the hospital be closed.

“It’s fantastic to see new investment in services at Westmorland General Hospital – after years of losing services at our hospital, we are now seeing real prog-ress,” said Mr Farron.

“In a rural area such as South Lakeland the provision of community services is vital – especially for people with mental health problems who may feel more isolated and vulnerable.”

The Cumbria Partnership NHS Foundation Trust is using money left over from its surplus fund to create modern outpatient and office facilities at the Kirkstone, Garburn and Kentmere units on the site.

The move will bring together all specialist mental health staff from South Lake-land into one location in a move which the Trust says will enable better integration to support the community.

Existing staff will be moved from the adult community mental hea-lth team at Kinta House in the town to WGH and the crisis and resolution home treatment team will now be loca-ted directly next to the Kentmere inpatient unit.

A new entrance way to Kentmere Unit is being developed and better facilities will be available for people to be assessed.

Stephen Dalton, chief executive of Cumbria Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, said: “This new investment will support better integration of the expertise that exists within our community services.

"For the first time community teams will be based alongside the ward with crisis teams and all staff will have better access to advice and support from consultants and staff within different specialist areas.

“It will also improve the environment for staff and for the people coming to use the facilities in modern, contem- porary surroundings conducive to delivering high quality care in a high quality environment.”