A THREE-YEAR recovery plan drawn up in an attempt to slash the £485,000 deficit in south Wiltshire's spending bill on mental health services crossed its first hurdle at a public meeting in Salisbury on Friday.

The plan - including controversial proposals to hive off some facilities to charity groups - drew criticism from some of the 40-strong audience of users, carers and representatives of voluntary organisations attending the City Hall meeting.

But in broad terms, they accepted that it would be better to have cost-saving changes now than face major cuts in services later on.

Proposals in the recovery plan, prepared for public consultation, by the Avon and Wiltshire mental health partnership NHS trust and South Wiltshire primary care trust, include:

marketing the services of the mental health control and restraint training team to other organisations;

reducing pharmacy costs;

disposing of the mental health offices in Endless, Street, Salisbury, and relocating staff at the Old Manor Hospital, which is undergoing a £17.1m rebuild;

looking at transferring the industrial therapy unit, based on the city's Ashfield industrial estate, to the voluntary sector;

transferring the running of the Elizabeth Barker Day Hospital for older patients at the Old Manor to a charitable provider; and

switching half the 41 inpatient beds for older patients to the private sector.