WILTSHIRE Primary Care Trust has agreed to the closure of 23 mental health beds in the county.
The new PCT endorsed the decision, taken by the board of the Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership.
A total of 21 beds will close at Green Lane Hospital, Devizes.
Fifteen beds are used by elderly patients suffering anxiety, depression and schizophrenia but 13 beds are to be re-provided at the trust's hospital in Fountain Way, Salisbury.
The other six beds to close at Green Lane Hospital are used by adults of working age. Another two beds are to be lost at Sandalwood Court, Swindon.
The Trust also agreed the permanent closure of the 15-bed Cameron ward at Chippenham Hospital.
The ward, used by elderly people with dementia, was closed last November due to a staffing crisis.
The closures are being made to save money as the trust has a projected deficit of £2m.
The trust said the changes would modernise services. The trust plans to spend £200,000 to put mental health counsellors into GP surgeries in Kennet and north Wiltshire, plus £225,000 into support services for older people to enable them to live in the community. The trust will also spend £200,000 on crisis services for adults to provide more care in people's homes.
The future of Charter House in Trowbridge, the 26-bed inpatient facility for elderly adults with dementia, remains unclear and depends on the outset of the Pathways for Change and Mainstreaming Mental Health reviews.
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