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St Clement's Hospital Ipswich.

I knew St Clements very well. In the early 1990s I was work based in Woodbridge covering that part of rural Suffolk roughly between Ipswich and Waveney. In particular the East Suffolk Advocacy Network (ESAN) originated there and had an office base in the hospital. Sadly for me at the time the service users working at ESAN (quite approriately) kept me at arms length as my employment was as a 'mental health professional' with Suffolk County Council. I say sadly because I was firmly on their side, and indeed, one of 'them.' I find it hard now to count the times I got in trouble with my managers for advocating with a service user - I was even hauled over the coals once for giving a service user the address of a local councillor and 'enabling' her to write to him!

The closure of St Clement's follows on from the merger of Suffollk and Norfolk mental health trusts into one organisation. I'm now wondering what happens to users compulsorily admitted to hospital from Ipswich. Will they be 'transported' to Norwich or Bury St Edmunds? I'll have to find out.

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