As the peak body for community-managed mental health organisations in New South Wales, we have been working closely with NSW Health to manage the impacts on the sector of mass public psychiatrist resignations.
Since the announcement of more than 200 public psychiatrist resignations in late December 2024, the information we have received to date, indicates that:
- 25 have rescinded their resignation
- 80 have deferred their resignation date
The mass resignations have already led to beds and units being closed in the public health system and will increase service demand for many of our members and the wider community-managed mental health sector.
The NSW Industrial Relations Commission met with the doctors’ union on Tuesday 21 January and the matter has been expedited for an arbitration hearing from 17 to 21 March.
NSW Health has provided an update for the sector on their response to managing the fall out, as per below. NSW Health have also advised that as per the Primary Health Networks and Local Health Districts contingency plan, they may well reach out to service providers to assist with their planning requirements.
NSW Health Update
From this week, NSW public health services may be impacted by the proposed resignation of a significant number of public health psychiatrists in relation to a claim about their conditions of employment. Psychiatrists play a crucial role in providing specialist care to people experiencing serious mental illnesses, both in hospital and community settings.
NSW Health has a coordinated health response to this issue considering all areas of the health service, all staff, and the communities they serve.
The response includes:
- Establishing the Mental Health Emergency Operations Centre (MHEOC) on 13 January 2025 to give a holistic view of the health system and to help monitor and act as a central co-ordination point to respond to the needs of services and consumers. It plays an internal coordination role across NSW Health and NSW Ambulance, but also other NSW Government agencies, including NSW Police and the Department of Communities and Justice.
- Continued engagement with the private sector to support the psychiatry workforce.
- Establishing virtual hubs for psychiatry to help our services deliver psychiatric care.
- Closely monitoring call capacity of the existing Mental Health Line.
- Working with healthdirect to ensure its call centre is scaled to respond and triage appropriately.
- Coordinating response in the community with NSW Ambulance, NSW Police, NSW Education and Department of Communities and Justice.
Importantly, public mental health services in NSW remain available for those who need care.
Although there may be changes to how services are delivered in some areas, dedicated and highly skilled mental health staff are here to care for you.
It is important for anyone experiencing mental health distress or concerns at any time to reach out for help and care. Please don’t delay – help is available if you need it:
- If someone has attempted or is at immediate risk of attempting to harm themselves or someone else call Triple Zero (000) immediately.
- If someone is experiencing mental health distress, or you are worried about your own or someone else’s mental health, contact:
- Mental Health Line on 1800 011 511 for 24/7 advice and connection to specialist mental health services
- Lifeline on 13 11 14 for 24/7 crisis support and suicide prevention services
- Kids Helpline on 1800 55 100 for confidential 24/7 phone counselling for young people aged 5 to 25
- 13YARN on 13 92 76 for 24/7 connection to an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Crisis Supporter
- Transcultural Mental Health Line for in-language support (Monday to Friday, 9am – 4.30pm) on 1800 648 911.
- If you or someone you know needs general mental health support, use NSW Health’s mental health service finder to find the right care.
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Mental Health Coordinating Council is continuing to work with our members and the NSW Government to represent the sector’s interests and the people we work to support.
The strain of the entire NSW mental health system will be further exacerbated. Critical staff shortages, resource constraints, amongst already increasing demand, create unsustainable pressures on mental health care delivery both within the public health system and in the community-managed mental health sector.
Mental Health Coordinating Council along with NSW mental health peaks BEING Mental Health Consumers and Mental Health Carers NSW, have renewed calls for urgent and significant investment in the entire mental health system, including the recruitment and retention of the workforce.
See the joint media release
We will keep you updated as the situation evolves and encourage our members to capture the increase in demands they are experiencing. Please email info@mhcc.org.au to share your experiences with us and keep us informed.
