A health facility which was part of Epsom’s mental health asylums has been "renamed and reborn" with a focus on rehabilitation.

Professor Dot Griffiths, chairman of Central and North West London (CNWL) NHS Foundation Trust, unveiled a new name for what has been known as Horton Haven, in Haven Drive, in Epsom,  on September 9.

The Haven has been re-named the Horton Rehabilitation Services (HRS), with new signage, and is emphasising the rehabilitative support it provides for people with complex mental health problems - including the skills necessary for independent living.

Prof Griffiths said it is "a place of hope, safety, peace and rehabilitation".

The facility first opened in 1902, with 2,000 patients at its height, and was known as Horton Asylum.  

It was used as a war hospital during both World Wars and in the 1960s became one of the first to adopt music and art therapies.

In 1985 the buildings were passed to the Riverside Health Authority, a predecessor of CNWL.

The Asylum was closed in 1997 but 67 patients, with real long-term needs, stayed in a new service, Horton Haven.

David Dunkley, service director, said it is an appropriate time to move away from the era of Horton’s asylum function and focus on its aims to rehabilitate.

He said: "Horton Haven was right for its time - it really was a nice place, but people were taken out of society.

"Today the model is different.

"Some very unwell people find peace here, but they also find treatment and support for successfully returning to the community - into society.

"The trust’s Recovery College has a hub here, and teaches self-care skills, and we have employment advisers visit regularly so that people are made ready for living in the community.

"Horton Rehabilitation Services is a good name because that is what we do."

Robyn Doran, chief operating officer, was a nurse and manager at Horton.

"Horton was a place for those who were forgotten - perhaps in high secure hospitals or even prison, and who are now doing things they would not have believed themselves," she said.

Andy Mattin, director of nursing, added: "Patients here can be very demanding and it needs a special type of professional who is really dedicated to recovery and they are here at Horton.

"It’s not at all surprising that matron Rani Ouditt has been here for almost 40 years. 

"The history of care is well recorded on the employment records of people in this room today."