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Bed boost for mental health services

Posted on May 14, 2009, 12:12pm

A resident psychiatrist has been appointed to work in Mount Gambier for the first time.

Mental Health Minister Jane Lomax-Smith announced the appointment yesterday along with a commitment that 10 beds will be allocated at the Mount Gambier Hospital by the middle of next year for people suffering mental illness.

The psychiatrist will work closely with the local mental health team, hospital staff, GPs and visiting specialists, including three psychiatrists who currently visit the region.

Dr Lomax-Smith said it was the first time dedicated mental health beds were being provided in country South Australia.

“We have embarked upon a massive program to rebuild, restructure and reinvest in the state’s mental health system,” she said.

“We are putting mental health services closer to people’s homes and introducing a new ‘stepped’ level of care, as recommended by the state’s Social Inclusion Board in 2007.

“This includes a new system of intermediate care to offer people support in the early stages of their illness to help reduce repeated hospital admissions and keep people well.”

Dr Lomax-Smith said the Glenside Hospital in Adelaide, which is the only South Australian hospital serving country patients, will continue to play a major role in providing mental health treatment.

“However, not everyone in the South East needs to go to Adelaide and these new beds will make it so much easier for people needing treatment, and their families, to get help locally and avoid the long trip to Adelaide,” she said.

“They can be treated locally, under the care of the new resident psychiatrist, close to family and friends and in familiar surroundings.”

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