‘Life or death’ mental health service that treats some of Northamptonshire's worst cases of depression is withdrawn

People from across Northamptonshire who have been having repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) at Berrywood Hospital in Northampton have been told that the front-line service will no longer be available with immediate effect.

The treatment, mainly staffed by nurses, is used for people who have not responded to medication or other therapies. It uses magnetic fields to suppress or activate parts of the brain associated with psychiatric disorders. It can be administered as an outpatient and doesn’t require any kind of surgery.

Although it is an approved treatment, it isn’t offered in all areas of the country. In Northamptonshire, it’s thought there were between 70 and 80 people receiving rTMS.

One insider said that the service had previously helped hundreds of people in the county to begin to tackle their treatment-resistant depression.

They said: “It can quite often be the difference between life and death for a number of patients with severe and acute depression where medication has failed to make any material difference for them.

“It’s an amazing science and the thought of it ending is absolutely shocking.”

A shattered patient, who has been treated at Berrywood for many years, said: “This treatment is miraculous. I have seen patients who have been non verbal and non responsive regain their lives. It has literally saved lives. At one point they expanded to an new area of the hospital where they had four treatment chairs and machines and one set up for research. It was leading this area of centre in its field and others are following in their footsteps.

"The best thing about this treatment is that once your initial treatment is complete you were able to access top up or maintenance treatment, as needed. In my case I have regular top ups every three months. In the last couple of years the team was moved back to their original location in the hospital and the number of devices reduced.

“This week patients received a letter informing them the centre was closing. In fact it stopped treatment today, so a few days’ warning. The staff have no idea of what's happening to their jobs.

“No warning, no patient consultation and in my opinion no duty of care. I have just had my safety net ripped out from under me. Can you imagine how much this is impacting those who rely on this.

"They already have spent the money on the expensive machines so I'm not really sure why they are not looking to find a way to still care for their patients.”

Northamptonshire Health Foundation Trust, the NHS body that provides rTMS has not responded to a request from this newspaper for comment. However it’s thought that the service is ending partly because the clinician that administers the treatment has recently left their post to offer the same service privately.

Private rTMS normally costs many thousands of pounds.

A letter to patients, giving them only a few days’ notice of the closure, said: “Due to changes in our workforce and the service, we can no longer maintain a safe staffing model for us to provide rMTS treatment.”

Treatments have already stopped, with patients being ‘moved to other treatment options.’

The letter went on: “We are this will be a change for people who use the service and are committed to supporting you through this.

"I recognise that this message will be unsettling and worrying for you, however we have support available to you.”

NHFT workers have repeatedly contacted our reporters during recent months alarmed over staffing levels and budget cuts.

An NHFT spokesman said: “As a Trust we are committed to ensuring we are providing treatments which are safe for our service users. Due to changes in our workforce and the service, we can no longer maintain a safe staffing model for us to provide rTMS treatment. This was a clinically led decision following a review of all the options.

“We have written to all current service users about this change and we are sorry for the impact it has had on them. We are now in the process of carrying out clinical reviews to understand their needs and we will work together with them to adapt current treatment options based on this change. All Northamptonshire based service users, who were receiving active treatment, remain under the care of our Community Mental Health Teams. Conversations with the staff team have been ongoing and a formal consultation will begin shortly, with the focus on identifying redeployment opportunities within the Trust.

“If anyone requires mental health support at this time, we would encourage them to call the Mental Health Number on 0800 448 0828 – lines are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you live outside of Northamptonshire, please call 111 and select option 2 for local support in your area.”