A review of day services for elderly people with mental health problems is being brought forward.

Homefield Place in Seaford has a mixture of day care places and inpatient beds but the beds are to close on April 1.

Sussex Partnership NHS Trust, which runs the inpatient beds, is reviewing all its facilities across the county and intends to focus more on providing services in the community.

East Sussex County Council, which provides the day care facilities, is now reviewing its services at Homefield.

The organisations are working together to review elderly mental health services across East Sussex, with a report due later this year.

But the Homefield case has been brought forward due to the trust's decision to close the beds early.

The council's lead member for adult services, Bill Bentley, said: "We have had a set timetable in place for several weeks but we must now get on with the work earlier than we had planned.

"This is because of the anxiety some service users, staff and carers are feeling now the trust is closing beds it manages."

Councillor Bentley said the review would consider whether the centre could meet the needs of future service users.

It will also look at whether Homefield Place gives council taxpayers value for money and, if not, how services can be provided more efficiently and effectively.

Staff conducting the review will compare services with the best standards in the independent and voluntary sectors and gather the views of service users, staff and partner agencies.

A spokesman said: "It has been clear to us for some time that our older adult mental health services do not meet the latest NHS guidelines for providing a full range of flexible services.

"They are too dependent on hospital beds and this has resulted in an im balance in services that fails to meet needs.

"At present there is little in terms of community support for the people of Seaford and day service provision is minimal."

Homefield provides eight inpatient beds for elderly people.

From April these services will be based at other inpatient units such as Healthfield in Eastbourne.

The trust recently developed a dedicated Seaford and Newhaven community mental health team and the Seaford unit is to be expanded.

A new liaison service is also being set up at Eastbourne District General Hospital for elderly people with mental health needs who come into accident and emergency or are inpatients at the general hospital or local community hospitals.