A space to ease pressure
A NEW after-hours mental health centre in Southport will take pressure off the Gold Coast’s strained hospital emergency departments, a health boss says.
The Safe Space site, inside the Southport Health Precinct, supports adult and young adult mental health patients when they are unable to access their usual support services.
It has already had 170 people pass through its doors since its opening in October.
Gold Coast Primary Health Network CEO Matt Carrodus said the site was intended to de-escalate mental health situations that might be exacerbated by a busy emergency department.
“It is somewhere for them to come to [and] relax,” he said. “They can engage with clinical and non-clinical staff here. It’s really about enabling them to manage their anxieties and some of their exacerbations about their mental health.
“They can engage with people and sit quietly [in a] cafe-like environment. It’s been really successful.
“Of all the people who’ve come in here over half say they would have presented to an emergency department if this service wasn’t available.”
He added it would relieve emergency departments, which have experienced rises in mental health patients since the beginning of the pandemic.
“The [emergency department] isn’t ideal for people with mild episodes, we like to keep it for people suffering acute mental health episodes.
“The emergency departments are incredibly busy places and they’ve experienced growth in [patients] over the
last two years.
“It’s very much to make sure people get the right care in the right place.”
The centre was developed via a partnership between Gold Coast Health, Gold Coast Primary Health Network and service operators Primary and Community Care Services.
It was also given more than $610,000 in state government funding to open its doors.
Safe Space clinician Georgie Howard said: “People come through facing multi
tudes of different issues, no two people are the same.
“We see people coming through with Covid-related stress and anxiety, depression, situational crisis, risk of harm, and we’re able to de-escalate.
“[We can] navigate the local community services and do appropriate referrals as well.”
Psychiatrist Dr Hetish Joshi told the Bulletin the pandemic had caused a surge in mental health issues nationwide.
“The pandemic has had a
huge impact on our community,” he said.
“And mental health difficulties don’t happen 9-5, they happen at all times.”
It is the second facility of its kind on the Gold Coast. There is a sister site in Mermaid Beach.
The Southport Safe Space is open 6-9pm, Monday-friday, and 12-8pm on weekends at the Southport Health Precinct.
Customers do not need a referral or appointment to attend. More information is available at gcphn.org.au