MENTAL health services for children and adolescents will soon be
available at the South Morang super clinic to fill a “desperate need”,
according to a health expert.
When the service opens next month, it will be the first public
mental health service in the City of Whittlesea for young people, Doreen
Power, chief executive officer of Plenty Valley Community Health
(PVCH), said.
She said locals, many without cars, had to travel to the Austin
Hospital in Heidelberg, but now Austin Health’s Child and Adolescent and
Mental Health Services would offer sessions at PVCH’s super clinic.
“There were no services [in South Morang]. People
here are socially disadvantaged. Many did not have their own transport
and had to use public transport to get to Heidelberg,” Ms Power said.
She said this had aggravated mental health issues
among young people in Whittlesea because some could not get to
Heidelberg and were left untreated. She said the super clinic would help
destigmatise mental health services.
“It will remove mental health services out of an institution because the clinic is not like a hospital,” she said.
Whittlesea council worked with PVCH to get the services at South Morang.
The council’s executive manager of advocacy, Mary Agostino, said
mental health was an issue across the municipality and one of the
council’s top health needs.
“The [Austin] unit will provide a comprehensive range of child and
adolescent mental health services for our young people in a community
setting,” she said.
“It will considerably reduce the transport time and give better
access and earlier intervention for our young people to receive vital
support.”
The municipality is the second-fastest- growing area in Australia
with a population of more than 170,000, which is expected to grow to
nearly 250,000 within the next 10 years.
