New urgent mental health care unit set to be built in grounds of Princess Alexandra Hospital
Health / Thu 15th Jan 2026 at 09:08am
TWO new Mental Health Urgent Care Units (MHUCUs) are being created in Essex, marking a significant milestone in improving care for people in crisis.
Developed and operated by Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT), the units will be based at Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow and at Colchester Hospital, and they are expected to open in summer 2026. Construction work will see the redevelopment of existing buildings on both sites.
The MHUCUs will help adults in mental health crisis get the right care at the right time, in a calm and therapeutic space closer to home and away from the busy environments of hospital accident and emergency departments. They will provide rapid assessment, care and support in a space better suited to patients in distress and patients with neurodiversity.
Specialist staff will work with patients to understand what has triggered their mental health crisis and ensure they receive the right care in the best place to meet their individual needs, whether that be in hospital or at home, supported by community mental health teams and support organisations.
Paul Scott, Chief Executive at EPUT, said: “The units represent a meaningful investment in our mental health urgent care pathway, providing a therapeutic space for assessment and intervention which will improve the experience of people who come to us in acute distress.
“The units will strengthen the existing mental health crisis support available in Essex, helping to ease pressure on local emergency departments while delivering high-quality care for our communities.”
Tom Abell, Chief Executive Designate of the new Essex Integrated Care Board cluster, said:
“We know demand for mental health crisis care is rising, and these units will make a real difference by ensuring people across Essex can access timely, specialist support in calm, therapeutic spaces. They will improve people’s experience at some of their most difficult moments, while also easing pressure on emergency departments and helping our services keep pace with the needs of our growing population.”
The two new units follow the successful opening of the Mental Health Urgent Care Department in Basildon in March 2023. Although smaller in scale, the Harlow and Colchester units will offer similar benefits, helping to relieve pressure on accident and emergency departments and the ambulance service by providing rapid assessment and dedicated support for people with immediate mental health needs. The units will also mean more patients receive urgent care closer to home, helping families and carers to play a more active role in their care.
Feedback from patients and those with lived experience endorses the huge importance of mental health urgent care units and the impact they have. Mental health crises are unique, there is no ‘one size fits all’ – the urgent care pathways will give clinical teams greater opportunity to provide person-focused care and respond to each individual’s needs.
David Forman
2026-01-15 10:08:19
And disgracefully no mention of the Lampard Inquiry into 2000 deaths of mental health inpatients from 2000 to 2023. It's worth remembering that the Counsel to the Inquiry highlighted the criminal prosecution of Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust in June 2021 by the Health and Safety Executive. The sentencing remarks by Justice Cavanagh were damning: "the heart of this case are a number of interconnected failures by the Trust. In summary, these are that there was a consistent failure to comply with national standards and guidance involving ligature risks (these are sometimes referred to as “environmental” risks); failure to act in a timely manner when environmental risks were brought to the Trust’s attention, and failure to act in a timely manner on recommendations made by the Trust’s own internal Audits; and failure to act appropriately after serious incidents had occurred, by failing to make appropriate environmental changes to reduce suicide risks, so as to remove the environmental risks from the same or similar locations. These failings often persisted for a number of years and meant that dangers resulting from ligature points on wards … were not identified and dealt with.” See https://lampardinquiry.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/CTI-Opening-Statement-Sept-2024-FOR-HEARING-as-delivered-at-the-hearing-1.pdf
David Forman
2026-01-15 10:17:04
For completeness here are the sentencing remarks in full by Justice Cavanagh at Chelmsford Crown Court on June 16, 2021: https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/R-v-Essex-Partnership-NHS-Trust-sentencing-remarks-16Jun21.pdf
David Forman
2026-01-15 10:45:41
For a local connection the sentencing remarks above in paragraph 94 say: "There is, in addition, one statutory aggravating factor, consisting of one previous relevant conviction from 2014 for a breach of s3 HSWA for failing to protect service users at the Derwent Centre from falls from windows which were not adequately restricted. In July 2013, an 18-year old patient on Chelmer Ward in the Derwent Centre fell 3.4 metres from a first floor dormitory to the ground below. The window had not been restricted as it should have been. The patient broke his back. The HSE considered that the Trust did not act sufficiently robustly or speedily to ensure such incidents never happened again."
Mr George
2026-01-15 14:08:05
If the type of help is more of the same as well as being underfunded and staffed, then a swanky new build isn't really going to help much imo. Mental health, as well as elderly and children's care in this country needs a complete shake up. It's rubbish.
Seamus
2026-01-15 15:17:40
I am puzzled. Late last year we heard how the trust is struggling professionally, struggling with staff levels and struggling financially. Since then we've heard about the trust building for "key workers" and now building on the hospital site despite us being told we don't have enough of a need for a new larger hospital. It just seems there is no joined up approaches for the senior Harlow management team and it looks like they get bored with the stuff that's hard by running off for the new "ooo look shiney sparkles" project. It's this easily distracted approach by the senior management team that suddenly makes sense of the CQC's assessment of Harlow hospital having 4 out of 5 standards in the "requires improvement" rating.
Mr George
2026-01-15 17:27:19
Seamus. Agree. Fix what's already broken. Waiting times are still a year or more, for every dept as far as I can see. Including, frighteningly cardiology. I waited 18 months for ENT, was misdiagnosed badly. They refused flat for a second opinion, had to pay £200 to see a private consultant to prove they were wrong, which they were.. GP applied again for second opinion on the back of that result, they've accepted it now. However, am back to the bottom of the waiting list pile. Minimum 31 weeks - and we all know appointments are longer than that. The whole hospital, and NHS is broken.
Doc Brown
2026-01-15 23:08:09
The trust recently issued a statement saying they will be using YourHarlow comment sections to identify patients.
chris
2026-01-16 08:47:51
Any improvement is better than the current non existent service. Phoning crisis line and being told your not in a serious enough mental condition isn't at all welcome. Neuro diversity also slips through the cracks, a duty psychiatric once called and kept telling me she would solve my problem, the problem she kept referring to as ASD. It is a welcoming consideration, but as David directs to the leopard enquiry which has since undergone two chairs and hasn't really done much. I was put in touch with them to share my experiences of mental health having been referred to HPFT and having a terrible experience. Lampard enquiry ignored several of my enquiry forms and then when they did get in touch told me they had closed the opportunity to give evidence but thanked me and wasn't really interested. This was back in 2022/23. Frankly the enquiry is a waste of money and is simply a pen pushing exercise to show the public there is an element of 'care' but nothing will happen.
Van D. River
2026-01-16 15:06:29
Where are they going to build on the site? I mean, they could always get rid of the remaining parking I suppose...
Liz Grant
2026-01-19 16:02:05
Seamus, this isn't part of Princess alexandra Trust. It is a different Trust that operates the Derwent Centre and owns the building on PAH grounds. Nothing to do with PAH at all. Van D River, did you not read? Or can you not read properly? Its redeveloping an existing building not building something new. Seeing as the only land the Derwent Centre own within the PAH grounds is their own building, I don't think they would be able to build something new anyway..... Around half of the Derwent Centre remains empty at all times, they will be redeveloping that for this new unit.
Tom
2026-01-23 15:47:51
PAH isn’t under EPUT. It’s a different trust (just so people are aware).
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