Derbyshire Healthcare opens its doors to a new 54-bed mental healthcare facility in Derby

Local people with acute mental health needs were welcomed to a new, state of the art mental health facility today, as the Carsington Unit in Derby opened its doors for the first time.  

The Carsington Unit, based on the Kingsway Hospital site, provides services for 54 working-age adults offering individual en-suite rooms and a range of modern, therapeutic facilities, aiding patient experience and supporting the recovery of those with mental health needs.

This is the third development of the six facilities to be completed as part of Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust’s Making Room for Dignity programme, which will remove all dormitory-style accommodation to completely revamp the mental health inpatient facilities in Derbyshire. Patients who will now be accommodated at the Carsington Unit have been transferred from the Radbourne Unit, at the Royal Derby Hospital site. Two wards at the Radbourne Unit will remain open with refurbishments set to start this summer.

The building and refurbishment programme has been led largely by the contributions of a range of partners including input from staff, patients and carers. The purpose-built facilities offer sensory environments and access to more green spaces, promoting the benefits of therapeutic activity. 

Service users will benefit from the ability to make subtle adjustments to their en-suite bedrooms such as controlling the temperature and lighting. The open outdoor spaces offer people the choice of exercising in the outdoor gym space or accessing the sensory environments dotted around the site directly from the wards – including a secure sky garden space on both the upper floors of the Carsington Unit in Derby and the Derwent Unit in Chesterfield.  

These spaces are intended to act as therapy-based tools to aid patient recovery, ultimately reducing the length of stay in a hospital setting as well as the single rooms offering vast improvement to individual patient care.

Mark Powell, Chief Executive at Derbyshire Healthcare, celebrated the news after four years of planning and preparation, which included collaboration with staff, patients and carers. He said: “This is a huge milestone in our commitment to continue to improve the lives of those in our care in Derbyshire and I am confident the Carsington Unit will be one of the best mental health facilities in the country.

“The opening of this highly anticipated development will help the Trust to deliver long-awaited and transformative care to the people of Derbyshire for years to come.

“Not only have we had positive feedback from patients but also those visiting the site, such as carers and colleagues, who feel optimistic around patient recovery and reducing the length of stay.”

"A significant moment"

Selina Ullah, Trust Chair, welcomed these new improvements to patient care and branded the new site as “a significant moment not only in Trust history but also for Derbyshire as a whole”.

She said: “This is a once-in-a-generation improvement of the care we provide to people in Derbyshire with mental health needs. Feedback has already been overwhelmingly positive with many commenting on the open spaces providing a breath of fresh air to patients right on their doorstep. 

“Thank you to all those involved in the opening who have ensured a smooth transition for patients moving between spaces.”

"Wonderful"

Janina, service user at Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, who has shared her first impressions from her experience at the Derwent Unit, which opened recently in Chesterfield and offers similar services to the new Carsington Unit. She said: “I’ve got my own room, with my own TV and remote, and my own bathroom.

I’ve also enjoyed getting involved with the activities, including gardening and pottery. I’m now helping to grow more plants in the sky garden, from scented herbs to flowers which will add some extra colour. The best thing about it here is the staff, though. They are all wonderful.”  

Alongside the Carsington Unit, the programme's other two new builds are the Derwent Unit, a 54-bed unit at the Chesterfield Royal Hospital site, which opened on 18 March; and Kingfisher House, a psychiatric intensive care unit for male patients located at Kingsway Hospital in Derby due to open this summer.

The programme also includes three refurbishment projects including Bluebell Ward, a ward for older adults with acute mental health needs based at Walton Hospital in Chesterfield (which opened on 7 January 2025); Audrey House Enhanced Care Unit for women at Kingsway, Derby (due to open later this year, and the Radbourne Unit, at the Royal Derby Hospital.

To learn more about the Making Room for Dignity Programme, please visit the projects webpage.