By CAM LUCADOU-WELLS
PSYCHIATRISTS are shunning Greater Dandenong and the south-east corridor in favour of their leafy home suburbs, according to a local mental health director.
Eastern Regions Mental Health Association services development director Christine Thornton said it contributed to a large inequity in available mental health services.
“Most psychiatrists and clinical psychologists tend to go into the city or work near their homes.
“We’re finding fewer are coming into the Greater Dandenong area to work.
“We see it with a lack of doctors going to rural areas.
“It’s something we need to take seriously or we’re going to have a greater disparity for people receiving support.”
There is increasing strain on available mental health services in the south-east growth corridor.
ERMHA’s community health service turns away people due to an “astronomical” waiting list, Ms Thornton said.
A Monash University study published last week confirmed a two-tiered mental health system.
It found Medicare-funded psychiatrists and clinical psychologists in Greater Dandenong were accessed at half the rate of those in the substantially more socio-economically advantaged City of Bayside.
The study concluded the federal Better Access initiative introduced in 2006 to improve access to mental health care had not provided “universality”.
Liz Carr, acting director of Victorian Mental Illness Awareness Council, said the study showed that GPs – who could refer patients onto the Medicare listed mental health services – were not well enough informed.
“I suspect GPs are making value judgements on the socio-economic status of the person based on where they live.
“They think you can’t afford to pay so you will have to wait for a psychiatrist.
“This affects those who don’t meet the criteria for involuntary treatment but need psychiatric support – and live in the wrong suburb.”
Ms Carr said “way too few” psychiatrists bulk-billed even though they were still paid a handsome government rebate.
“I’ve seen people quite desperately trying to find a psychiatrist and really struggling with it.”
The situation was exacerbated by the “scarcity” of public mental health services – including a chronic lack of hospital mental health beds.
“The public health system doesn’t discriminate but it’s just not enough.”
According to health department statistics, Dandenong Hospital – the region’s main mental health unit – is failing to meet an 80 per cent benchmark for moving an adult patient from emergency to a mental health bed within eight hours.
Between July 2013 and September 2014, the hospital’s score was in the 60s, apart from a 78 for the April-June quarter last year.
