Mental Health Minister Jamie Hepburn will visit a new £8 million unit for child and adolescent mental health in Dundee today.
The Young People’s Unit provides a 12 bed inpatient unit, including family accommodation for parents, and provides specialist care to young people from across the north of Scotland.
All bedrooms have en-suite bathrooms and there is a private outdoor space, education facility and a gym.
Mr Hepburn will meet patients and staff and tour the new facilities at the unit, which is based on the site of the previous Young People’s Unit in Dudhope Terrace.
The new unit is a partnership between NHS Tayside, Grampian, Highland, Orkney and Shetland, who have come together to form the North of Scotland Regional Child and Adolescent Mental Health service project. By working together the five boards have developed a specialist network for young people with mental health problems.
The Scottish Government recently announced an additional £100 million investment in mental health. Spread over five years, it will be used partly to further improve child and adolescent mental health services across Scotland.
Outstanding
The funding will also be used to extend access to psychological therapies, create better responses to mental health in primary care, promote wellbeing through physical activity, and improve patient rights.
Jamie Hepburn, Minister for Sport, Health Improvement and Mental Health, said: “The new Young People’s Unit in Dundee is an outstanding new building which is providing top quality specialist care.
“Young people from the previous unit, and staff, have been closely involved in the design, and that means the new facility is properly tailored to their needs, with a gym, en suite bathrooms and accommodation for parents.
“The family accommodation is particularly important because it makes it much easier for young patients to settle in and feel comfortable during their stay.”
