Facility first of its kind
New mental health ward provides novel procedure
THE new mental health facility at St Andrew’s Hospital is the first in the Darling Downs to offer an advanced magnetic procedure for depression.
The 20 bed, $7 million private facility was opened to the public today, after a year of construction.
Inpatients admitted to the facility will be provided with evidence-based, recovery-focused care and treatment, but will also have an opportunity to access Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation.
Widely used in Australia, TMS is a brain stimulation useful for patients who have responded negatively to antidepressants.
The therapy involves the use of short pulses of magnetic energy to stimulate nerves cells, a painless procedure.
“The TMS is the only treatment of its kind and it’s not available in a lot of places in Queensland,” St Andrew’s psychiatrist Dr Ashar Imam said.
“The success rate of the treatment is high - 37 per cent of patients treated with TMS after failing other treatments went into complete remission (from major depressive disorders).”
The treatment is available for inpatients and is covered by private health insurance.
CEO of St Andrew’s Hospital Ray Fairweather said the mental health facility was the last part in the hospital’s puzzle.
“In Australia there are three leading causes of morbidity: coronary heart disease, cancer and mental health. St Andrew’s is well focused on cardiology and cancer, so mental health is the last piece,” he said.
“This facility now takes our bed number to 155, and by transferring our patients into this facility we get an additional 14 beds to put towards medical patients - which is important with winter coming on.”
Recent data indicates 20 per cent of all overnight inpatient mental health admissions occurred in private health facilities. Patients stay on average 18 days.
The hospital’s psychology outpatient clinic will also expand its services.
The clinic will now offer clients access to a clinical psychologist for one-on-one consultations along with a range of group therapy programs for anxiety, depression and selfesteem.