A South Essex psychiatric hospital is to get 12 extra beds for patients who have been treated at high-security institutions like Broadmoor.
Bosses last night sought to reassure local people that Runwell Hospital will retain its medium-secure rating and only cater for people who are ready to be discharged from more secure units.
The move is part of a Government project to speed up the process of discharging people from the highest levels of supervised care into hospitals closer to their families.
The 35-bed unit will begin expansion almost imme-diately with the first five extra patients set to arrive within weeks but bed numbers will remain fluid until the hospital moves into its new premises at the former Rochford Hospital site within the next two years.
A spokesman for South East Essex Partnership said: "We already take from high security settings people who have received treatment and are judged by senior consultants to be suitable for the kind of care we provide.
"We have used the same procedure for the last 20 years. The accelerated discharge programme aims to move people from high security hospital who do not need to be there."
Published Friday June 18, 2004
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