Update from NSW Health 7 Feb 2025:
A significant number of public health psychiatrists in NSW have signalled their intention to resign from the NSW Health public health system, in relation to a claim about their conditions of employment.
As a result, there may be disruptions to mental health services and the broader public health system, particularly in metropolitan areas. However, it is important for the community to be aware that our services remain available, and people will continue to receive care from our dedicated and highly skilled mental health staff.
Psychiatrists play a crucial role in providing specialist care to people experiencing serious mental illnesses, both in hospital and community settings.
NSW Health has a coordinated health wide response to try to minimise the impact of these resignations, considering all areas of the health service, our staff, and the communities we serve.
The response includes:
- The Mental Health Emergency Operations Centre established to give a holistic view of the system to help monitor and respond to impacted services and the patients we care for.
- Continued engagement with the private sector to support the psychiatry workforce.
- Establishing virtual hubs for psychiatry to help our services deliver psychiatric care.
- Closely monitoring call capacity of the existing Mental Health Line. · Working with healthdirect to ensure it is ready to scale its call centre to respond and triage appropriately if required.
- Coordinating response in the community with NSW Ambulance, NSW Police, NSW Education and Department of Communities and Justice.
Importantly, public mental health services in NSW remain available for those who need care.
It is important for anyone experiencing mental health distress or concerns at any time to reach out for help and care. Please don’t delay – help is available if you need it:
- If someone has attempted or is at immediate risk of attempting to harm themselves or someone else call Triple Zero (000) immediately.
- If someone is experiencing mental health distress, or you are worried about your own or someone else’s mental health, contact:
– Mental Health Line on 1800 011 511 for 24/7 advice and connection to specialist mental health services
– Lifeline on 13 11 14 for 24/7 crisis support and suicide prevention services
– Kids Helpline on 1800 55 100 for confidential 24/7 phone counselling for young people aged 5 to 25
– 13YARN on 13 92 76 for 24/7 connection to an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Crisis Supporter - If you or someone you know needs general mental health support, use NSW Health’s mental health service finder to find the right care.
January 29th 2025.
As you are likely already aware, there are psychiatrist resignations occurring in NSW. The effects may impact other public services including emergency departments in public hospitals. It may also have a direct impact on the number of patients presenting to primary health care services with mental health issues.
We recognise the incredible support you are already providing to many patients with mental health issues. We also know that this situation is likely to add extra burden, but we have full confidence in your ability to manage it.
In line with the Chief Health Officer’s directions, we strongly recommend attempting to continue using your usual referral pathways for patients with mental health needs. If these pathways prove unsuccessful you are advised to escalate concerns through your Local Health District.
However, if you encounter any difficulties or if the usual referral process is not functioning as expected, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our public health team at publichealth@ahmrc.org.au. We are committed to escalating any systemic or local concerns directly to the Ministry of Health to ensure a timely and effective resolution.
The strain these resignations are potentially going to have on individual staff, your services and communities is clear to us, and AH&MRC wants to advise all our member services that we are here to support you and navigate this together.
