Name unveiled for new mental health facility

A new £40m mental health facility in Radlett has been given a name – Kingsley Green. Kingsley Green is the name by which the mental health and learning disability will be known. The land has been used for mental health and learning disability care since the 1930s and was formerly known as Harperbury. Hertfordshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (HPFT) unveiled the new name at a launch event in Welwyn Garden City this month. HPFT Chief Executive Office Tom Cahill said: “This is a significant day in the history of the Trust and the site. “Whilst we have regard for Harperbury’s history, we need to change the name of the site to reflect our determination to build another unit that is worthy of our aspiration to be the leading provider of mental health and learning disability services.” The new unit will house 64 adult mental health beds split into four wards of 16, and another 16-bed adult learning disability ward. It will also include a cafeteria, a shop, a family room, a multi-faith room, an ECT (electroconvulsive therapy) suite, a guest room, a sports and activity area and a Section 136 suite (to receive people brought in to the unit by police). HPFT has a number of other buildings on the site including a Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit and Low Secure Unit, completed in 2009, and the recently refurbished Forest House, an inpatient unit for children and adolescents. Read more in March’s My Radlett & Shenley News.