by Chris Hunter

chunter@thekmgroup.co.uk

Emergency services raced to a mental health unit after a patient climbed up on to the roof.

Police and fire crews were called to Priority House at Maidstone Hospital around 6pm on Monday after the man scaled a fence in the garden area, then clambered on the roof and refused to come down.

A spokesman for Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust said the patient was “very unwell indeed,” in a “psychotic and disturbed” condition, but there was no indication that this was a suicide attempt.

The Trust is continuing to care for the patient.

A statement added: “There are measures in place to prevent patients accessing the roof from ward areas and gardens and fencing is in place to prevent absconding. However, it is important to remember that there is a balance to be struck between achieving a secure and a therapeutic environment.”

Police also say there was no serious threat to jump, and the man came down of his own accord at about 6.25pm.

The Trust is now looking into increasing the height of fencing in the garden area at the Hermitage Lane site, along with other measures.

But a spokesman said they wanted to avoid creating something that “looked like a prison.”