Concerns have been raised over a plan that will see Norfolk men sent to Suffolk for urgent mental health treatment and Suffolk women sent the other way.
The Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust has set out a proposal for its psychiatric intensive care units which will see the long-closed Rollesby ward of Hellesdon Hospital become a single-sex facility for women.
Under this plan, a ward in Ipswich Hospital will become the equivalent facility for men.
The trust says single-sex units provide safer environments, particularly for women.
However, concerns have been raised about the plan ahead of it being scrutinised by councillors later this week.
Under the proposals, Norfolk and Suffolk would have 10 intensive care beds for males and 10 for females.
Statistics, though, show the demand for PICU beds is considerably higher for men.
In the past three years, 441 men have needed PICU beds, compared with 142 children.
Labour's Brenda Jones, who sits on Norfolk County Council's health overview and scrutiny committee (HOSC), said: "There is a need for genuinely trauma-focussed specialist service for women, but what is proposed is not it.
"The trust's own figures show that the need for PICU is greater for males than females, yet the same number of beds is being proposed.
"NSFT should have brought this matter to HOSC months ago while the ward was closed, not try and bounce the committee into a decision that they have pre-empted by already completing the work."
Conservative committee chair Alison Thomas said: "My concern about this is that Norfolk men with acute mental health needs will need to be taken a long way from home - while the same will be said for women from Suffolk."
Cath Byford, deputy chief executive at NSFT, said: “We have looked in detail at data on PICU admissions and length of stay covering the past three years.
"Although we receive more male referrals, female patients generally tend to need treatment for longer which balances the need for an equal split of beds.
“We will keep admission numbers under close review once Rollesby re-opens and will speak to our commissioners if we feel a change to the bed split could benefit more patients.
“We expect to be able to provide an update on when the ward will reopen next week.”
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