Perhaps the good news from the review is that Panorama Clinic was not specifically mentioned.

Perhaps the bad news, though, is just the same – that Panorama Clinic was not specifically mentioned. That leaves staff, clients and their families in an anxious limbo, wondering just what the future might hold.

Concerns over the future of the clinic were first raised last year when rumours circulated suggesting local health management was planning to change the clinic to a weekdays-only operation, with Orange’s Bloomfield Hospital to house clients at weekends.

This newspaper was given the same story from many different sources, leading us to believe there must be some truth to what we were told.

But former Mental Health Minister Kevin Humphries moved to quash that speculation with a single-line statement declaring the Panorama Clinic would remain as a seven-day inpatient facility. His office would say no more on the issue, believing elaboration might only “muddy the waters”.

Several months on, though, there still seems to be plenty of mud.

Local psychiatrist Dr Andrew Frukacz is not alone when he raises concern over a recommendation in the review that inpatient acute and non-acute services for adults and non-acute inpatient services for older people should be decreased.

That sounds like bureaucratic speak for fewer publicly-funded mental health beds, at a time when demand appears only to be growing.

If the mental health review was designed to provide clarity for staff and clients, it seems to have failed miserably. And, while doubts remain, people will naturally fear the worst.