Date published: 13 June 2023
Former Category C Men’s prison HMP Kennet is due to be demolished this summer to help the therapeutic recovery of mental health and learning disability patients based at Maghull Health Park.
Closed in 2016 having been run by HM Prison Service, it has been used sparingly since and the estate around it at Maghull Health Park has been significantly developed by Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust, one of the country’s largest mental and community health trusts.
The award winning Rowan View medium secure hospital opened in 2020 and Aspen Wood, a low secure facility, is due to open later this year, with both new hospitals providing state of the art facilities to help mental health and learning disability patients’ care and treatment.
The sight of the decaying property was unsettling for some of the most vulnerable patients within the NHS, so the £1.5million demolition of the site has been agreed with an expected completion date of February 2024.
“Over the last decade, Mersey Care and the NHS have invested tens of millions of pounds into Maghull,” said Elaine Darbyshire, Mersey Care’s Executive Director of Estates and Communications.
“We’ve created an impressive concentration of highly skilled and experienced staff and innovative services, as well as building two new hospitals and our internal pharmacy service. These sit alongside the existing Ashworth Hospital and Trust conference facilities.
“Maghull Health Park is a stunning therapeutic environment, with a focus on integrating physical and mental health care and moving patients on through services, with beautiful buildings, landscaping, artwork, and exercise facilities. Sitting alongside all this is a decaying prison building which we’re delighted will now be cleared.”
The area will be landscaped as part of Maghull Health Park’s development. As many of the patients have sensory needs, Mersey Care has also pledged to deliver a safe, quiet, and environmentally conscious site clearance, which includes site vehicles not travelling through residential areas when they leave the site.
Do you want a new challenge in your career? Why not consider Mersey Care - we have a wide variety of roles needing different skills, including our new low secure unit, Aspen Wood, due to open later in 2023 at Maghull Health Park.
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