Shoalhaven Mental Health Facilities

Mrs SHELLEY HANCOCK (South Coast) [1.08 p.m.]: On 8 May I gave notice of a motion and I now restate it:

That this House:

(1) Notes the commitment by former South Eastern Sydney Illawarra Area Health Service Chief Executive Professor Debra Picone AM to the directions outlined in the Area Clinical Services Strategic Plan 2006-2009.

(2) Notes that the development of a 12-15 bed mental health unit is included as an initiative for the Shoalhaven District Memorial Hospital.

(3) Notes that no action has been taken to implement this initiative as yet.

(4) Calls on the Government to implement the Clinical Services Plan as endorsed and supported by Professor Debra Picone.

I understand the process for enabling such motions to be debated but I believe that it may never be debated. Therefore I would like now to raise once again the issue of mental health facilities in the Shoalhaven area. I indicate the extreme disappointment of the communities of the South Coast and further down into the electorate of Bega, and also residents of the Illawarra region who have contacted me, that despite the fact that the clinical services plan for 2006-09 for the South Eastern Sydney and Illawarra Area Health Service supported an initiative for 12 to 15 acute care mental health beds at Shoalhaven District Memorial Hospital, this plan seems to have been completely abandoned. My purpose in raising this issue again is to call on the Government to commit to its own planning document by providing 12 to 15 mental health beds at Shoalhaven hospital.

I have spoken many times about the experiences of mental health patients in my electorate who are suffering due to the fact that they have to be transported to Shellharbour Hospital for assessment and care. For many this is some distance from their homes and families, who of course provide part of the care and rehabilitation process for them. It is bad enough for those living in Nowra but it is even worse for those along the South Coast of New South Wales because there are no acute mental health beds for them down to the Victorian border. I am also informed by police officers that they are becoming weary of having to transport mental health patients to and from Shellharbour Hospital, which is the only acute mental health facility on the South Coast. Their time is consumed by transporting patients. They should not have to do this and they have expressed their concern to me on a daily basis.

The Premier and the Minister have talked much about the mental health spending that will occur in New South Wales but they have clearly failed to deliver for South Coast individuals who suffer mental health issues. In fact they have even failed to endorse their own plan. Recently the shadow Minister for Health and I visited the Shellharbour facility and became aware of a critical shortage of psychiatrists in the area and the difficulty it faces in recruiting new psychiatrists. There is a real crisis emerging in mental health from the Illawarra to the South Coast in relation to the staffing of the Shellharbour facility. This has been compounded by the resignation of the resident psychiatrist, Dr Irwin Pakula, about six weeks ago due to alleged bullying and harassment. Staff have rallied in support of Dr Pakula, recently wearing black to highlight the issue. The Illawarra Mercury recently reported:

Dr Pakula walked away from 30 years of health service on Monday, citing an administrative culture of bullying, scapegoating and gagging.

He told the Mercury the Illawarra's mental health clinicians were encouraged to discharge patients prematurely, were offered little support from administration and expected to conform to standards different to those applied to Sydney counterparts.

An even more serious situation is emerging in the Illawarra than most people would have expected. The problems are twofold: the situation in the Illawarra and the absence of mental health beds at Shoalhaven Hospital. So far this Government has ignored both. Again I raise the issue of the clinical service plan, which was worked on for many years by a number of clinicians and endorsed by Professor Debra Picone, but so far we have seen no action. I call on the Government again today to reassess the plan and the planning process for the provision of mental health beds at Shoalhaven hospital. I indicate that no other issue has aroused so much concern over a five-year period in my electorate. I also want to refer to the Helping Hands Program, which is a group of volunteers who assist those in the community with mental health issues. I call on the Government to ensure that funding for this program is reinstated. It was threatened three years ago with negation.