Green light for new £65m south London centre to transform children and young people’s mental health
A unique new £65 million mental health facility which aims to transform children and young people’s care and future mental health and well-being is a step closer after planning permission was given for the Pears Maudsley Centre for Children and Young People
A unique new £65 million mental health facility which aims to transform children and young people’s care and future mental health and well-being is a step closer after planning permission was given for The Pears Maudsley Centre for Children and Young People, in South London.
Mental healthcare services for local young people, world-class research, specialist national services, and a wide range of clinicians and academics will be brought together under one roof. The centre will provide better care facilities, and turn research into prevention, early intervention and treatments more quickly than ever before – transforming lives locally and internationally.
The Pears Maudsley Centre for Children and Young People – on South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust’s (SLaM) Denmark Hill hospital site in Camberwell – will represent one of the most significant current investments in mental health care in the UK.
Millions of pounds of funding has already been secured to construct this purpose-designed new building from partners The Maudsley Charity, King’s College London and its renowned IoPPN (Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience), SLaM itself, and major donors including trusts, foundations and individuals.
David Bradley, Chief Executive of SLaM, said: “The mental health of children and young people has never been so important. I am pleased that the need for high quality mental health facilities have been supported. Together with our partners we will be able to turn our vision to transform the mental health and wellbeing of children in Southwark, nationally and globally, into a reality.”
Dr Bruce Clark, Clinical Director for Child and Adolescent Mental Health at SLaM, said: “Getting the green light is a real high point during the most challenging times many of us in the NHS have ever experienced. This is a true partnership with the common goal of transforming care, treatments and preventing mental illness for young people in all the communities we serve.”
Professor Emily Simonoff, Head of King’s College London’s Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at IoPPN, said: “We want to make a real step-change – tackling a global problem from here in Camberwell. Bringing world-leading clinicians and researchers together means we can develop innovative new ways of preventing and tackling mental health problems experienced by children and young people, and accelerating the pace of change. “
“The centre’s work will make a real difference to people’s lives. By identifying the underlying causes of poor mental health, we will develop and implement new interventions to drive best practice care globally. Through using the latest data-driven technology we will also focus on the communities most at risk here in south London, allowing us to better target prevention and early intervention.”
Rebecca Gray, Chief Executive of The Maudsley Charity, said: “It has never felt as vital as now to be investing in our young people’s future mental health and well-being. This centre is only being made possible through commitment and generous support, from the NHS, King’s College London, and a wide range of generous donors including The Pears Foundation, The Rayne Foundation, The Wolfson Foundation and The Garfield Weston Foundation.”
The Centre will house modern new CAMHS inpatient, outpatient and crisis care facilities – and bring researchers, clinicians and local and specialist services together. Work will start soon on building the new centre after the go ahead was given by Southwark Council’s Planning Committee on 3 November 2020.
The centre forms a major part of SLaM’s ambitious plans alongside its partners to invest more than £140 million in modern new services and facilities to improve patient care and experience for local people in the next few years.
Further details: https://kingsmaudsleychildren.org.uk/
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Media contact
Richard Morley at Maudsley Charity: richard.morley@maudsleycharity.org
Olivia Lerche at SLaM: 020 3228 2830 or Olivia.lerche@slam.nhs.uk
Watch a short film about the Pears Maudsley Centre :
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