THE North East’s youth mental health service has slashed its waiting list to zero thanks to a new approach that gives patients more control over their treatment.
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And North East Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services program manager Terry Scanlan said that was despite a 50 per cent increase in demand for its services.
Mr Scanlan revealed the figures yesterday as NECAMHS staff hosted a free community barbecue outside its offices for Mental Health Day.
NECAMHS — which is controlled by Albury Wodonga Health and helps young people up to the age of 18 across North East Victoria — had a waiting list of between six to eight months for its services.
But after introducing the new model last July, that list had dropped to zero by January.
Mr Scanlan said NECAMHS was one of three services in Victoria using the Choice and Partnership Approach.
Patients attend an initial appointment where they discuss their concerns and work out the treatment they want and need, rather than floundering on a waiting list and having their treatments dictated by clinicians.
Mr Scanlan said after this first appointment, patients were referred to the right service for them and knew exactly when their next appointment would be.
The model is used widely in the UK and is becoming more popular right across Australia.
It also echoes the methods of the youth mental health hub headspace, which NECAMHS will work closely with when it opens next month.
Mr Scanlan said it offered patients more certainty and had “unblocked blockages” in the system.
“After their first appointment, they know which clinician they will see, they know the date and time of that appointment,” he said.
“When you’re on a waiting list you don’t know what’s happening or when.
“The whole aim of CAPA is the patients have a choice in what they go on to do, and it’s very family-orientated.”
NECAMHS receives about 1000 referrals each year, a number that had steadily increased in the past decade, particularly with the number of young people presenting with issues like self-harm and suicidal thoughts.
Mr Scanlan said the model was allowing them to “provide help in a timely fashion”.
Staff handed out information pamphlets at the barbecue, which was sponsored by Coles and Beazley’s Meats in Wodonga.
