THE Robertson Centre has been officially unveiled at Kidderminster Hospital following a £250,000 “milestone” revamp of the mental health unit previously known as D Block.

The upgrade and refurbishment work included the redevelopment of the reception area, a new suite of five ground floor consultation rooms, a new group therapy room, new carpeting, redecoration, improvement of external areas, new signage, a purpose-built Community Mental Health Team (CMHT) base and a new medical records base.

Simon O’Loughlin, consultant clinical psychologist and chairman of the project team behind the redevelopment, said: “This is a milestone for the unit.

“It will make a vast improvement to the environment in which we deliver our services to Wyre Forest patients and will also provide an enhanced working environment for staff.

“The funding for this redevelopment is a vote of confidence by Worcestershire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust and has also been supported by Kidderminster Hospital League of Friends.”

The centre is named in honour of Sandy Robertson, the consultant psychiatrist who led the establishment of community-focused mental health services in Kidderminster.

Dr Roberston said: “I am pleased that an active mental health service of a high quality is still being delivered from Kidderminster Hospital.”

He added: “I feel deeply grateful and honoured that it is being named after me but I want to emphasise that over the years it has been a team effort.”

Wyre Forest MP, Dr Richard Taylor, officially opened the centre last Friday and said: “Sandy oversaw the move into this block and the redevelopment of this block and it really is his block.”

He added he was “staggered” by the improvements that had been made and that Kidderminster Hospital was “ahead of the game” in combating the feelings of “stigma” often faced by mentally ill patients.

Ros Keeton, chief executive of Worcestershire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust, added: “We are trying to provide an environment people can come into where they feel welcome and valued.

“Too often, mental health is a Cinderella service and we are now beginning to get in Kidderminster a service that is of the same standard expected in any other aspect of healthcare.”

The Robertson Centre has about 100 staff and deals with patients in two wards as well as between 400 and 450 “contacts” a week who visit the centre complaining of a mental health problem.