THE key findings from a review of the region’s mental health services have made local psychiatrist Dr Andrew Frukacz deeply concerned about the future of Bathurst’s Panorama Clinic.
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The findings from a review into the Western NSW Local Health District’s (LHD) mental health services were delivered to staff and stakeholders last week.
Health Partners Consulting, who carried the review out over the last five months in consultation with key stakeholders, recommended that the LHD move to more contemporary methods of care and increase community and residential services.
While the review made no specific mention of the Panorama Clinic, Dr Frukacz is concerned by the recommendation that inpatient acute and non-acute services for adults and non-acute inpatient services for older people should be decreased.
“There are worrying comments that there are an excessive amount of acute beds and references to sub-acute beds being under utilised,” he said.
Dr Frukacz said the Panorama Clinic had an average occupancy rate of 80-90 per cent and was a vital mental health service for the community.
He said his main concern was that the Clinic could be downgraded and become similar to a sub acute facility at Dubbo, which is run by the non-government organisation Neami National.
“That has just one nurse on per day and if that happened here we couldn’t provide the same level of care that we currently do.”
Dr Frukacz said it was vital that people in the community shared their concerns for the future of the Panorama Clinic with the Minister for Mental Health Jai Rowell and Member for Bathurst Paul Toole.
Director of nursing and midwifery and acting director of mental health, drug and alcohol services Adrian Fahy said the review has found that LHD had more acute and non-acute psychiatric beds per capita than any other region in the state or country.
He said evidence shows that delivering care as close to home as possible, in the least restrictive environment, achieved better outcomes.
Mr Fahy said management would work with staff to plan new models of care to increase community and residential services.
“This could be something as simple as getting more nurses to visit patients in the community, but we will be planning other models of care and working closely with staff and experts in areas to decide what model would work best.”
Dr Frukacz said while increasing the focus on community treatment was good, the review had not really made any new revelations.
He said community treatment had already been tried throughout the 1980s and 1990s, when teams of mental health nurses and psychiatrists visited patients at their homes.
“As you can imagine the expanded service worked well, but over time funding decreased, the level of service decreased and service returned to institutions,” he said.