A ONE-STOP hub for mental health treatment is hoped to cut the number of people admitted into full time care.
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NSW Minister for Mental Health Pru Goward visited Orange on Wednesday to open the LikeMind Centre in Kite Street, the first non-pilot centre of its kind in the state.
The centre will focus on complete care, with services including mental health care, drug and alcohol services, employment and training support, housing assistance, GPs, psychologists and social workers.
Those who attend will be triaged and assessed, with a care plan developed for them.
In partnership with the Western NSW Local Health District (LHD), the centre will be operated by Aftercare, which was founded by Banjo Paterson’s cousin, Emily Paterson, in 1907.
Octec, Housing Plus, the Lyndon Community and Mission Australia will be among the other organisations working from the centre.
Aftercare chief executive officer John Malone said the organisation’s focus had not changed in 109 years.
“If you go back to the early days, people needed a train ticket or a pair of boots or a job, people still the same thing – a place to live and some company to enjoy their lives,” he said.
“It’s for people to feel they belong and they’re not alone and they’ve got a place to go.”
Ms Goward said mental health extended into housing, crime, child protection and employment.
“We’re recognising mental health is not just a health issue,” she said.
“There’s no one person with a mental illness exactly like another – they each have individual challenges.”
She said Orange had been chosen as the first location due to the stakeholders’ enthusiasm to establish the facility.
LHD integrated mental health and drug and alcohol services director Jason Crisp said the centre would help ensure patients did not slip through the cracks.
"Anything we can do to keep people out of hospital is the key message,” he said.
Mr Crisp said a program aimed at moving residential patients into the community had progressed slowly, with eight to 10 patients moved into the community in the past 18 months.
He said there was about 30 patients to go.
“We want to make sure we do it properly and make sure the supports in place are ready for the transition,” he said.
“Not one has had to come back to hospital – these patients could have been in hospital for 30 or 40 years so it’s a big change.”
LikeMind is located at 122-124 Kite Street and for more information, visit www.likemind.org.au.
For crisis or suicide prevention support, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.