SO work has started on the £11.8m mental health unit in Wakefield that will serve Huddersfield’s needs and those of several other areas across West Yorkshire.

People who needed to be cared for in a secure unit used to be patients at St Luke’s Hospital at Crosland Moor.

When that was due to close the families of many of these patients were unhappy that they would be cared for outside the Huddersfield area.

Time and time again they were told that a search was underway in Huddersfield for a replacement, but one was not forthcoming and now this means that such a unit will never be here again.

When people suffer from severe mental illness it’s vital they keep in contact with their families, relatives and friends. Wakefield may not be the other side of the world, but it is a distance to travel to get to the new centre at Fieldhead Hospital, especially on public transport.

The people behind the centre are promising it will be state-of-the-art in terms of both facilities and philosophies.

Let’s hope that’s the case and makes up for the loss of that local contact.