For the eleventh time campaigners fighting the last mental health ward still open in Somerset have been out protesting.

They were out in Shepton Mallet to show they are still fighting about the closure of St Andrew's ward in Wells. The campaign continues even though they have had some relatively 'good' news with another postponement for closure - now it is scheduled for spring or summer 2023.

The petition against the shutting of the ward now has close to 4,000 signatures. You can sign it HERE:  

Campaigners told Nub News : " We want to save St Andrew's ward from closure and reopen Phoenix ward for proper mental health provision in the Mendip area.

"Although the CCG claim that no one is sent out of area for treatment, even if that is true, we know people from Weston who have been sent to Leeds and people from B&NES who have been sent to Harrogate.

"Clearly more provision of inpatient mental health care in this area of Somerset would be beneficial to people in these areas too. With the rising cost of fuel and the knowledge that, in some areas of Mendip, one in three people are without a car, it is not acceptable to expect people to make the journey to Yeovil, especially with our insufficient and expensive public transport system.

"People in a mental health ward need their family and friends to visit, and to be able to action their section 17 orders to be allowed out for short periods, in order to recover quickly. Being based in Yeovil will impede their recovery. Furthermore, although the CCG will be making savings as a result of this closure (or relocation as they like to describe it), people in the Mendip area will be left picking up the bill, so, not only will vulnerable people be disadvantaged, but we will all be paying more at a time when the cost of living is already hugely outstripping wages. "