DORSET Health Care Trust has begun three months of consultation over long-awaited details of its plans to reorganise services for people with long-term mental illness.

Its proposals to close the Treatment, Outreach and Rehabilitation Centre at Hahnemann House in Bournemouth caused controversy when they were first announced in May as part of a cost improvement programme. Some relatives, carers and users claimed they had not been asked for their views.

After criticism from councillors, concern from MPs and a 5,000-signature petition against the closure, the trust has now set out in writing how it plans to transform Torch into a community recovery service.

Copies of the document have already been sent to interested parties and trust chief executive Roger Browning is hoping as many people as possible will respond before the January 25 deadline.

"We're doing this exactly by the strict guidelines laid down by the Department of Health. We hope that people will feel full consultation will have been carried out, whatever their views," he said.

"We do still think it's the right thing to do. The proposals are what Torch staff want and what the service user representatives have said they want as well.

"There are some very vocal relatives, some or all of whom appear opposed to any change. All we can do is explain why we all believe that the changes are needed and why they would be better, and consult on that.

"We can understand people are worried about change, but we want to continue to maintain good quality services and create more opportunities for service users."

He appealed to members of the public to read the document with an open mind. "Our trust has always had a specialist service providing care and support for people with enduring mental health problems in addition to the work of the community mental health teams. That isn't changing," said Mr Browning.

First published: October 28