WAITING times for Kirklees residents accessing mental health therapy have dropped, a report has revealed.

South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust has reported waiting times for therapies has reduced from in excess of two years to 18 weeks.

The report also states investment in facilities at Folly Hall, Huddersfield, have resulted in ‘significant improvements’ to the care environment.

Changes to service facilities were implemented when St Luke’s Hospital in Crosland Moor closed in 2010 and some of the services were transferred over to Folly Hall by last December.

Folly Hall now offers access to community teams, memory services, psychology, day services, crisis and dual diagnosis.

Other improvements include a new single point referral system and 24/7 helpline access for service users and for referrers to access senior clinician advice.

Figures included in the report showed 91% of patients received urgent access within four hours, 72% were treated within 14 days for routine access and 99% of patients access to psychological therapy within 18 weeks.

The findings were published in a report produced by the trust to be discussed tomorrow by Kirklees Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Panel for Wellbeing and Communities at Huddersfield Town Hall at 10.30am.