Following last month’s announcement that The Sussex Beacon was suffering financial difficulties, the charity announced today it is to close its psychological services at the end of March this year, due to a loss of funding.
Three posts, the Head of Health and Wellbeing Services, the Senior Psychological Practitioner and the Trainee Psychological Practitioner will be affected and made redundant at the end of March 2017.
Funding historically for this service came from The Monument Trust and the Henry Smith Charity. The Monument Trust is to close this year and will be giving no further funding to The Sussex Beacon. As a result, the charity is no longer able to offer psychological services to people living with HIV. The only exception is the charity’s monthly mindfulness group, which will continue as normal.
Simon Dowe, Chief Executive at The Sussex Beacon, said: “Without the necessary funding, it’s impossible for us to keep our psychological services running. This is a huge blow to the charity as these are long-standing members of staff who have provided invaluable support to people living with HIV over the years. We are doing all we can to support the staff affected and will consult with our clients to ensure that those who would like to access alternative local services are transferred as smoothly as possible.”
In a letter to service users Simon wrote: “We are doing all we can to support the staff affected and will consult with our clients to ensure that those who would like to access alternative local psychological services are transferred as smoothly as possible before the end of March.”
The Sussex Beacon provides specialist support and care for people living with HIV through both inpatient and outpatient services. It helps hundreds of people living with HIV in Sussex a year and was rated ‘outstanding’ by the Care Quality Commission in September.
In December 2016, The Sussex Beacon announced it was facing the prospect of closing services, including its ten bed inpatient unit, following a reduction in funding it receives from the NHS.
Charity management and trustees have made and are continuing to make every effort to put the organisation in a stronger financial position to avoid these closures.
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