Mental health care centre opened

By Oliver Rogers
BBC Essex

Frank Bruno (C) prepares to cut the ribbon and open the Crystal Centre

A new £13m centre to provide mental health care at an Essex hospital has been officially opened by ex-world champion boxer Frank Bruno MBE.

The Crystal Centre at Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford will provide 34 beds for patients over the age of 65.

The boxer who described being sectioned in 2003 as a "shameful experience" cut a ribbon to declare the unit open.

He told BBC Essex: "If something happens to you, these centres are really important. We need more."

The new specialist unit which will also provide out-patient services for depression, dementia and Alzheimer's disease took a year to build.

The Crystal Centre has 34 beds for older patients

The centre will give existing services a new, more centralised home, close to the main hospital at Broomfield.

A former Essex resident, Bruno, was taken to Goodmayes Hospital in Ilford when he was sectioned in 2003.

"It wasn't a nice experience for me, and a shameful thing for me," he said.

The boxer, who won the WBC world championship in 1995, has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

"Unfortunately when I was put into Goodmayes, the television was there, the radio, along with the ambulance and police.

"I don't mean 'shameful' because having a nervous breakdown can happen to anyone, but it was all spread over the papers," Bruno said.

In pictures: The Crystal Centre

Andrew Geldard, Chief Executive of the North Essex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, praised the work of Frank Bruno in promoting metal health issues and giving the service more of a public profile.

The former heavyweight champion of the world was shown round the centre and played three rounds of boxing with health service chiefs on the unit's new Wii, he won them all!

"This unbelievable building has speciality rooms, baths, and rooms for families to share. This building is so important, it is untrue and is modern times," said the boxer.