AN INDEPENDANT hospital in Chelmsford that specialises in mental health is set to benefit from a £3m expansion.

The investment of The Priory Hospital will allow more NHS and private patients with mental health needs to be treated.

This significant investment at the site will also create 20 new jobs.

The Priory hospital is building a new 12-bed ward to help cope with demand for its services across the region.

Patients with a range of conditions – including anxiety, depression, OCD and bipolar disorder – will be seen in the new facility, due to open at the end of June.

As a result of this significant investment, the independent psy - chiatric hospital will now provide care and treatment for up to 60 adult inpatients, both privately funded and with NHS referrals, with mental health conditions.

In additional to its residential services, the hospital also provides care for people with mild to moderate mental health issues through a range of outpatient therapy services such as individual and group-based cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) – as well as a specialist eating disorder service, and its Addiction Treatment Programme.

Priory Consultant Psychiatrist Dr Donna Grant, who will oversee the new ward at The Priory Hos - pital Chelmsford, said: “What we have seen from recent, high profile awareness campaigns is that it is vital to be open and better edu - cated about mental health. Whilst I believe that we still have a long way to go, things are getting bet - ter and the more we can talk about mental health, the closer we will get to eroding the stigma around mental health issues.

“I am delighted to announce the opening of these enhanced facilities which will enable us to increase our services to patients referred from the NHS. I’m also proud that the Priory is playing a proactive part in responding to the very real need for more mental health beds in the UK.

“However, it’s not just the statistics that are telling us there’s a growing problem – I know from my clinical experience that there is an increasing number of adults and young people coming to us with mental health issues.

“There are many reasons for this increase, although I do feel that pressure caused by financial and employment worries, the high expectations we put upon ourselves as well as general ‘life stress’, is contributing to the mental health epidemic we are cur - rently experiencing.

“Positive patient outcomes are at the very heart of the services we offer at our specialist hospital – and the more patients we see, the more people we can help in their journey towards recovery.”