Children left waiting for mental care
Douglas gets work balance right
A YOUTH mental-health facility proposed for Cairns three years ago is still a long way from becoming a reality.
The Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service says it is still planning the Youth Prevention and Recovery Care Centre with the assistance of the Cairns Regional Council.
The $6 million centre, which was to be the first facility in Queensland to provide short-term community-based residential care for people aged between 16 and 21 suffering mental-health issues, was announced by the State Government in 2014.
It has been proposed for a site on Law St at Cairns North.
CHHHS chief executive Clare Douglas said the service was in the final stages of addressing some of the risks identified during the planning process associated with the development site.
“An announcement regarding the facility and how we plan to address these risks will be made following consultation with affected neighbours and completion of that work,” she said.
“I want this facility to be operational as soon as possible.
“It is important for the whole community that we get it right when it comes to this very important service, which will support 16-21-year-olds with mental-health recovery.”
She said the facility would be based on a successful model from Victoria, providing a step-up service option to prevent admissions through intense, short-term treatment.
It would also include a stepdown option to assist early and “seamless” transition for young people when re-entering the community following an admission as a mentalhealth patient.
Mental-health activist Ruth Crouch, whose son Declan, 13, took his own life in 2011, said she was very disappointed that it was taking so long to establish the care centre.
“In Cairns, we have very limited – in fact next-to-nothing – facilities and services for youth mental health,” she said.
She said currently, young acute mental-health patients were either transferred to Townsville for treatment or sent to the generic mentalhealth ward at Cairns Hospital.
“When the young person is becoming unwell, there is nothing to assist in the prevention of an admission,” she said.
“When they are discharged, there is no facility or service to help them back into their lives.
“So we see them go ‘round the cycle again.”
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RECORD capital works investment and a debt-free status has capped off an impressive 12 months for Douglas Shire Council.
The 2016-17 Annual Report revealed council injected more than $14 million into 71 projects, headed by the start of construction on the new 20ML water reservoir at Craiglie. The document was passed by councillors at a special meeting in Mossman yesterday.
“We are a small council that continues to punch well above its weight,” Mayor Julia Leu said. Douglas Shire Council was one of the few local governments to pay off all loans and finish the year with zero borrowings, putting it on track to achieve a balanced budget in the 2019-2020 year.
IT IS IMPORTANT FOR THE WHOLE COMMUNITY THAT WE GET IT RIGHT WHEN IT COMES TO THIS VERY IMPORTANT SERVICE