DAY services for adults with mental health problems are about to undergo a major reform in north Hampshire.

Plans are being developed to merge Adelphi Place, in Church Square, Basingstoke, and Vyne Road Day Service, in Vyne Road, Basingstoke.

The two centres will be amalgamated and the joint service will be set up in a new building in the town - but Hampshire County Council, which is leading the changes, denies the merger is a belt-tightening move.

Service users have responded to the plans with apprehension, but say they hope the new set-up will continue the good work of the existing centres.

Adelphi Place, run by Hampshire Partnership NHS Trust, was opened in 1997 to provide help for people with mental health issues in returning to work or getting a job. It has 262 members and a working membership of between 50 and 60 people each week.

Vyne Road Day Service is run by Hampshire County Council's social services to provide a place for those with mental health problems to gather socially.

Phil Mortimore, a member/service user at Adelphi Place, said: "A lot of members would say that the model works extremely well and it will be a shame to move on, but we have to move on.

"Nobody likes change and people with mental health issues have more of a problem with change - but it's going to happen."

The current lease on Adelphi Place runs out at the end of 2007 and will not be renewed.

"We have had meetings and know the services will be moved to a shared building," said Mr Mortimore. "But people are not going to be thrown out into a nothingness.

"The centres are being replaced and the intention is for the new place to combine the best bits of Adelphi and Vyne Road."

Peter Knight, a colleague member at Adelphi Place, said: "Adelphi Place is working perfectly well. Hundreds of members have gone on to have jobs and raise families. Some people are worried it's going to close completely.

"It is a real shame because Adelphi Place works well. If it hadn't been for the clubhouse here, I don't know where I would have been."

The changes are being introduced as part of the huge ongoing reforms of mental health services in the county. It is not yet known when the changes will be introduced - although it will be before December 2007 when the Adelphi Place lease ends.

The reforms will also see the transfer of a unit for mothers with mental health problems and their babies from Basingstoke to Winchester and the closure of half the beds at Parklands psychiatric hospital later this year.

Councillor Patricia Banks, the county council's executive member for adult services, said: "In line with the modernisation of mental health services across the county, there has, over the course of the last year, been a review of day services carried out in Basingstoke.

"As a result of the review, which included a wide range of stakeholders, commissioners, voluntary agencies and service users, the day-service provision in Basingstoke will be a modernised integrated service, building on the strengths and positive initiatives of the current services, incorporating new developments with a clear focus on recovery.

"The provision will need to move to a new location as, currently, services are being provided in smaller separate locations, which would be unsuitable for the new service.

"There are no plans to disinvest in day services in Basingstoke."

First published: Thursday, April 20, 2006