Plans for new Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) unit in Leeds approved

Posted on: 16 December 2019

An artist's impression of the planned CAMHS unit News that Leeds City Council has granted planning permission for a new mental health inpatient unit for young people in West Yorkshire has been welcomed by joint applicants Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust (LCH) and Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (LYPFT).

The new unit will be built on the St Mary’s Hospital site in Armley, Leeds, providing 22 inpatient beds and much needed improvements and facilities for children and young people across West Yorkshire. This will include a range of spacious and therapeutic areas, including a multi-purpose activity room, educational facilities, a family visiting room, courtyards and a green communal space for service users and staff. There will also be a health-based place of safety in the unit, where a young person who is thought to be in urgent need of care will receive a mental health assessment to ensure they get the most appropriate support.

The finalised plans for the new Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) unit were developed with young people and their families, and will deliver a high quality environment and the best possible care for young people.

Work will soon be underway on the St Mary’s Hospital site, with the demolition of some existing buildings due to take place in February 2020, and the construction of the new unit planned to start at the end of April 2020. The unit is due to be open from September 2021.

Thea Stein, Chief Executive of Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust which provides the CAMHS service, welcomed the planning green light. “This purpose-built CAMHS Unit will be truly transformational in so many ways and I look forward to the day we are able to move in,

“I’d also like to thank the local community and its representatives for being so welcoming to the development during the pre-planning stages. We will do all we can to make sure we are a good neighbour during construction and beyond.”

Dr Sara Munro, Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust Chief Executive and CEO Lead for the regional Mental Health, Learning Disabilities and Autism collaborative, added: “The West Yorkshire and Harrogate collaborative have been working closely together to develop a better way of providing care and treatment for young people with complex mental health issues across the region.

This unit will help us to reduce the number of children and young people in West Yorkshire and Harrogate who have to leave their local area to receive the care they need. It’s a situation we’ve been keen to change and I’m pleased we’ve reached this important milestone.”

Notes to editors

  • More details about the CAMHS Unit are available at https://www.leedscommunityhealthcare.nhs.uk/

  • The West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership Mental Health, Learning Disabilities and Autism Collaborative includes Bradford District Care Foundation Trust; Leeds and York Partnership FT; Leeds Community Healthcare Trust; and South West Yorkshire Partnership FT

For more information please contact:

The Communications team, Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
Telephone: 0113 85 55989 Email: communications.lypft@nhs.net  

The Communications team, Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust
Telephone: 0113 84 33423 Email: lch.comms@nhs.net

Accessibility tools

Return to header