Support increases for mum-and-baby unit

4:17pm Wednesday 23rd August 2006

IN JUST two hours, more than 500 people added their names to a petition to keep a mother-and-baby unit in Basingstoke.

A signing session in Market Place at the Top of the Town in Basingstoke saw hundreds of residents give their backing to the campaign to keep the unit, which helps mothers with post-natal depression - boosting the running total of signatures to well over 2,000.

Last November, health bosses announced plans to move the unit, based at Fairway House, near Parklands hospital, in Basingstoke, to Melbury Lodge in Winchester because it serves the whole of Hampshire and Winchester is more central.

But these plans are now in doubt. A new eating disorder in-patient unit is set to go into Melbury Lodge, which will be larger than initially thought, leaving the future location of the mother-and-baby unit in limbo.

Before Saturday's signing session, more than 1,700 people had already put their names to the petition to keep the unit in Basingstoke. The campaign has also received the backing of the Association for Improvements in Maternity Services (AIMS).

Borough councillor Sean Keating, who started the campaign after his daughter was treated at Fairway House, was joined by several local borough and county councillors to take the campaign - which is being supported by Gazette Newspapers - to the streets on Saturday.

Cllr Keating said: "We filled 20 sheets of the petition in just two hours, which was excellent, and I am thinking of doing it again.

"The more names that we get, the more likely we are to influence the people taking this decision. What we need now is for the borough council to pursue this petition and I am calling for them to work with the NHS.

"What I would say to anybody who has not signed yet is that signing a simple petition could make a substantial difference to the health and welfare of Basingstoke."

Among the signatories on Saturday were two young mums who had been treated for post-natal depression at the unit.

Jodie Read, from Basingstoke, who spent eight weeks there following the birth of her son, said: "The best thing I ever did was go in there.

"The staff were extremely helpful and they weren't judgmental. They helped me with the baby and helped me to get back into a routine and get some rest."

Debbie Mitchell, also from Basingstoke, said: "I have got four children and I had post-natal depression after every one. The nurses at the unit are absolutely brilliant and they helped me to get re-housed twice.

"The help of the staff was life-changing. They don't just solve the depression - they also help with resettling you back in the community."

The campaign petition is available for signing at The Gazette's Church Street offices during normal office hours from Monday to Friday, or you can download and print a copy of the petition by clicking here. It can also be signed online by visiting www.petitiononline.com/babyunit

Hampshire Partnership NHS Trust has not yet set a date when a final decision on the future of the mother-and-baby unit will be made.

• Do you have a view on this issue? Write to The Letters Editor, Gazette Newspapers, Gazette House, Pelton Road, Basingstoke, RG21 6YD or e-mail editor@basingstokegazette.co.uk