Topic: Mental health

Neami National is inviting community members from across South Western Sydney to join in sessions – either virtual or face-to-face – to help shape the new Head to Health service which will be based in Liverpool CBD.

The Australian Government rolled out Head to Health services in 2021. The services included an intake and assessment phone line, adult mental health centres, satellite services and pop-up hubs like those at Liverpool and Bankstown.

Neami has now been funded to establish a permanent adult mental health centre in the Liverpool CBD, to provide short-to-medium term support for people experiencing moderate or heightened mental health problems.

Neami established the state’s first permanent Head to Health centre in Penrith in 2021, and last week some of the SWSPHN team visited the Penrith site to better understand the support offered and the warm, welcoming space which will be available to people in our region.

The Liverpool Head to Health centre will begin taking referrals in South Western Sydney from mid-2023.

Anyone wanting to access the Head to Health service now, can call 1800 595 212 to talk to a trained mental health professional.

Community Connection sessions:

The sessions are for those including:

• People with lived and living experience of mental health challenges, distress, adversity, recovery, or service use
• People with experience supporting someone with these experiences as a carer, family member or significant other
• Service providers, including general practitioners, those working in community health services, and emergency services
• Members of community groups and organisations
• Anyone in the Liverpool community interested in learning more about the service

The Community Connection virtual session will be held on Monday, 3 April from 3pm to 5pm via Zoom.

Join Zoom meeting (meeting ID: 835 9917 4218 and passcode: 973730)

The Community Connection face-to-face session will be held on Wednesday, 5 April, from 8.30am to 11am at the Hilda M Davis Senior Citizens Centre, 185 Bigge Street, Liverpool.

Register to attend

The pop-up hubs in Liverpool and Bankstown, delivered by One Door Mental Health, will continue operating until the permanent Liverpool centre is established. Residents can call 1800 595 212 to talk to a trained mental health professional who can help find support that’s right for them.

GPs and other health professionals can refer patients to SWSPHN’s commissioned mental health services through SWSPHN Mental Health Central Intake.

Central Intake ensures that when patients are referred to our commissioned services, there is a standardised initial assessment which supports the treatment choices for that patient.

Find out more:

About making a referral

About Central Intake

For support making a referral, phone SWSPHN Mental Health Central Intake on: 1300 797 746.

If you’re worried about your mental health and not sure where to begin, the Headstart website is an easy-to-use way to find the help that’s right for you.

Headstart’s comprehensive database of local services connects users with service providers or information specific to your mental health needs, location, cultural background or gender identity.

Headstart marks its one-year anniversary

South Western Sydney Primary Health Network (SWSPHN) launched Headstart one year ago, in January 2022. In the past 12 months, more than 17,000 people have visited the website to find trusted, free or low cost, mental health services.

Feedback from visitors to the website includes:

“I like how Headstart is region-focused and user friendly.”

“This website is an amazing start on building a collaborative resource on mental health services. It is sorely needed.”

Headstart South Western Sydney gives information relevant to the local government areas of Bankstown, Camden, Campbelltown, Fairfield, Liverpool, Wollondilly and Wingecarribee. It filters services based on a person’s demographics and mental health needs.

Find support to manage conditions like:

• anxiety and/or depression
• eating disorders
• personality disorders

Find support for challenging situations like:

• grief and loss
• domestic and family violence
• gambling concerns

Headstart brings information about local services into one, easy-to-search platform and includes contact details and referral pathways for those services.

SWSPHN Chief Executive Officer, Dr Keith McDonald PhD, said one of the biggest obstacles to accessing support for mental health concerns was not knowing where to get help.

“Who do you ask? What sort of treatment do you need? Are there local services available? How do you access those services? It can be overwhelming taking that first step towards finding help,” Dr McDonald said.

“Headstart simplifies the process of finding the right help for you. By answering a few questions, Headstart will help you navigate to the local, phone and digital mental health service, which will best meet your need.”

Headstart continues to evolve

Work is underway on creating:

• a page for people with an intellectual disability
• new pages and resources for social prescribing, including a page for ‘loneliness’ and ‘community connections’
• new support pages, including counselling and therapy, support groups, self-help, and education and training

Find out more about SWSPHN’s initiatives for mental health support

People in our region at risk of suicide will have improved access to appropriate, safe and timely care with the recruitment of a lead agency for SWSPHN’s Clinical Suicide Prevention Service for the first time.

Grand Pacific Health began delivering the service at the beginning of this year.

The service is designed to respond to the critical needs of people at low-to-medium risk of suicide following a suicide attempt or suicidal crisis, offering accessible and sensitive individual psychological therapy services.

It is for people who:

• Have continued suicidal ideation after discharge from acute services
• Present at a GP clinic after a suicide attempt
• Present to a GP with persistent suicidal ideation

Several service provider organisations, from sole trading clinicians to larger mental health organisations, had been funded to provide the service since its establishment.

The service has provided care across the region since July 2017, with 1,336 referrals to the service and 6,453 hours of service delivered.

Of the clients referred, 59 per cent are female, 57 per cent are people aged between 14 and 35 years and 17 per cent are clients born in countries other than Australia.

Grand Pacific Health, with its team of qualified and experienced mental health professionals, has now been commissioned as the service’s lead agency to streamline referrals, ensuring a more efficient response to the urgent needs of people at risk of suicide.

SWSPHN CEO, Dr Keith McDonald PhD, said the commissioning of Grand Pacific Health as lead agency was an opportunity to continue the good work of the service.

“This new lead agency approach to the Clinical Suicide Prevention Service will provide greater assurance that people in crisis will be seen promptly no matter where they live in South Western Sydney,” he said.

GPs can continue to refer patients to the service through SWSPHN’s Central Intake.

• If you, or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts, talking about self-harm, or is noticeably in serious distress, call triple (000). Alternatively, contact the NSW Mental Health Access Line on 1800 011 511.