Waitlist for mental health services
Mental health need increases amid long waitlists for professional help, sharp rise in emergency presentationsABC Radio Brisbane / By Antonia O'Flaherty and Rebecca Levingston PostedTue 16 Mar 2021 at 11:20pmTuesday 16 Mar 2021 at 11:20pmTue 16 Mar 2021 at 11:20pm, updatedTue 16 Mar 2021 at 11:27pmTuesday 16 Mar 2021 at 11:27pmTue 16 Mar 2021 at 11:27pm Psychiatrists want the government to increase the mental health workforce by 30 per cent in the next five years to cope with demand.(ABC News) Help keep family & friends informed by sharing this article Print content Print with images and other media Print text only PrintCancel abc.net.au/news/waitlist-for-mental-health-appointments-amid-sharp-rise-in-need/13253612 Article share optionsShare this onSend this by
Psychiatrists are urging the Queensland government to fund more mental health positions as they grapple with having just two-thirds of required staff amid a "mental health crisis" that has seen a 90 per cent increase in emergency department presentations. Show
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It comes as children and young people are faced with six to nine-month waitlists to see psychologists and psychiatrists. Queensland doctors also reported up to a 30 per cent spike in people seeing their GPs for mental health problems last year during the pandemic, according to AMA Queensland president Professor Chris Perry. The mental health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic saw calls to Beyond Blue increase by 42 per cent nationally, and 8 per cent in Queensland during 2020 compared with 2019. 'Mental health crisis gripping community'Go direct to the sourceRoyal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists' Queensland branch chair Professor Brett Emmerson has called for the state government to commit to growing the workforce by 5 per cent annually over the next five years to help alleviate the "mental health crisis gripping the community". He said Queensland's mental health services had just two-thirds of the staff required pre-pandemic under the national mental health planning framework. Professor Emmerson told ABC Radio Brisbane the current $46 million Queensland government funding for additional staffing over the next 18 months was welcome but was a drop in the ocean of what was needed. "If we went from 65 per cent [of recommended staff levels] up to 90 per cent that would go a very long way to meeting some of the pre-COVID needs," he said. Read our full coverage of the coronavirus pandemicSurge in eating disordersProfessor Emmerson is also the executive director of Metro North Hospital Service and said the mental health crisis amid COVID-19 had seen a 90 per cent increase in emergency department presentations across four hospitals in Metro North. Support for young people and families
"The groups affected are eating disorders, young people [aged 1025], the elderly, and there's a whole group affected by COVID," he said. Professor Emmerson also called for several hundred additional beds across the state for mental health in-patients and alternatives such as step-up and step-down services. AMA Queensland president professor Chris Perry said many people had struggled with the changes to their lives and uncertainty during the COVID-19 pandemic. If you or anyone you know needs help:
Queensland Mental Health Commissioner Ivan Frkovic agreed that greater investment was needed in addition to more training places for mental health practitioners and current staff levels. He said services were lacking for children up to 12 years of age, and there was not "great investment" in that age group despite being the period "where you can make the greatest impact". "We've got to try to see how we invest some money upstream to be able to meet with families and children at that earlier stage rather than waiting until adolescence and then trying to see if we can intervene at that point," he said. GPs 'very, very worried for patients'GP and director of Family Doctors Plus Maria Boulton said her practice had recorded an increase of patients presenting with mental health concerns by about 50 per cent. "We're also seeing increased eating disorders, we're seeing a lot of anxiety in younger people, we're seeing a lot of anxiety and depression in adults," Dr Boulton said. Dr Maria Boulton, GP and director of Family Doctors Plus and AMA Queensland Council of General Practice chair says doctors are very, very worried about their patients.(Supplied: Dr Maria Boulton) Dr Boulton said doctors were looking after patients as best they could, spending hours on the phone contacting specialists to determine waitlists across locations most of which were "six to nine months". "Which is really, really long especially when you've got someone in distress who has perhaps lost a job because of COVID and they need extra support," she said. "We will help people, we're always keen to help. Of course, if anyone has any trouble we do suggest you see your GP." If you or anyone you know needs help with an eating disorder, contact:
Dr Boulton said GPs were "very, very worried for patients" due to waitlists.
"For example, I've got a patient who can't get in until August, and I will be seeing that patient, at the moment it's weekly, until they can get seen." A Queensland Health spokesperson said as part of the Queensland government's $46.5 million Mental Health and Wellbeing Community Package, 10 priority hospital and health services were identified for additional funding to support immediate mental health, alcohol and other drug treatment services amid COVID-19 demand. "The package comprises six targeted evidence-based initiatives designed to mitigate the immediate and longer-term mental health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, including additional community mental health and drug and alcohol treatment and support responses, specialist mental health services for people in quarantine, additional capacity within existing AOD residential rehabilitation services, localised mental health initiatives, and youth mental health," the spokesperson said. "The range of initiatives will create approximately 100 community full-time equivalent (FTE) frontline positions within the health sector." What you need to know about coronavirus:
Posted16 Mar 202116 Mar 2021Tue 16 Mar 2021 at 11:20pm, updated16 Mar 202116 Mar 2021Tue 16 Mar 2021 at 11:27pm Share
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