SUPPORTERS of a mental health facility in Bournemouth were travelling to London on September 6 to hand in a 5,000- signature petition at 10 Downing Street.

Relatives and carers of people who use Torch - the treatment, outreach and rehabilitation centre at Hahnemann House in Bournemouth - will be accompanied by North Poole and Mid Dorset MP Annette Brooke and West Dorset MP Oliver Letwin.

The campaign to save Torch began at the end of May when Dorset HealthCare NHS Trust revealed plans to close it from September. The idea was that users would be able to access the same services in the community.

Relatives and service users complained about lack of consultation. A joint meeting of Poole, Bournemouth and Dorset's health scrutiny and review committees is giving the trust 28 days to respond to its concerns and recommendations.

The trust pledged that existing users would be able to continue attending Torch until care packages acceptable to them, their relatives and carers had been agreed.

It also promised that the new care packages would provide at least the same level of care, medication, number of days attendance and geographical convenience as Torch, and that Hahnemann House would stay open for drop-in purposes.

But one of the campaigners, Elizabeth Holland of Hyde, near Wareham, pointed out that Torch was closed to new admissions and claimed her schizophrenic brother's health had suffered because of the uncertainty over its future.

"Two months after being told Torch was to close, we have still not been given any care plan. We have not been told of any alternative centres, or how his fragile mental state will be monitored," she said.

A parent, whose schizophrenic son attends Torch, said: "My lad has become more withdrawn, worried and depressed."

The trust needs to save £2.2 million this year, but has admitted it is unsure how much money, if any, the closure of Torch would achieve.

First published: September 6, 2005