A new psychiatric hospital centre will be built in Belfast, it was announced today.
No building will close until the new one is ready to open, Belfast Health Trust said.
A spokesman said: "If the go-ahead is given the Trust will begin discussions with the Health and Social Care Board for Northern Ireland and the Department of Health to secure funding for the new unit and for more home and community-based treatment."
A suggestion in the consultation had been that the psychiatric inpatient section at the City Hospital should close as a first step towards the new centre. That idea was rejected.
The trust also wants more money for home and community-based treatment.
Directors agreed that the Victoria Day Centre in east Belfast should eventually close.
"This is in line with a modern approach to mental health day-support that is moving away from centre-based activities to the development of individual personal plans that help people develop life skills and get the most out of life," the spokesman added.
Following separate consultation on the modernising of services for older people, the board approved a policy of phasing out permanent admissions to residential homes that don't provide specialist services such as those for people with dementia.
The representative added: "This will not affect anyone who is currently living in a residential home in Belfast.
"However it recognises that more older people are choosing to stay in their own homes provided they can receive increased support, so residential homes or group living will be less needed in the future."
PA