City skin unit set to be axed

Oct 16 2006 By Alison Dayani, Birmingham Mail

THE ONLY dedicated skin unit in Birmingham is being shut down by debt-hit hospital bosses, it emerged today.

The Dermatology Unit, based at City Hospital, in Winson Green, was slimmed down from 24 beds to six earlier this year.

And now a notice has appeared on the ward for nurses informing them the unit will be closed for good next month.

But bosses of Sandwell and West Birmingham Trust, which run City Hospital and the unit, said the six "skin specialist" beds would be available in a general ward.

The unit is a centre of excellence for providing specialist inpatient treatment for sufferers of rare and painful skin conditions from across the West Midlands.

Patients with the blistering skin complaint psoriasis, as suffered by the main character in the drama The Singing Detective, and people who have reacted badly to drugs with rashes, are all dealt with on the ward.

Psoriasis patient John Kell, from Willenhall, said the move was a catastrophe for skin patients.

"I have just spent weeks here and needed nurses to help bathe me and treat my skin, I couldn't have done without it," said Mr Kell. "It is a terrible idea to shut it. All the patients who use it are appalled.

A trust spokeswoman said: "The unit now has six beds and we are consolidating it into a general ward and the specialised nurses will go with the beds."

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