Calls grow for mental health service in Victorian town 'left out of the mix'

Since 2022, Stacey Kelly has regularly taken a five-hour round trip on public transport to access mental health treatment and services in Ballarat.

The Horsham mother of three lives with depression, anxiety and depressive psychosis, and the treatments she requires are not provided in her home region.

She is one of many Wimmera residents calling for a mental health facility in Horsham, so residents can access services and treatment closer to home.

"I [travel to Ballarat] because I wish to be alive,"

Ms Kelly said.

"It's an inconvenience in the fact that it takes a whole day to go and have the treatment and come home again."

She said it would be "incredible" if a facility existed in Horsham where she could receive treatment after work, minimising the impact on her everyday life and keeping her closer to family and friends.

"When I first started treatment, I was away for seven weeks," Ms Kelly said.

"So, I was away from family and friends and anyone who was giving me support.

 "It just had a huge impact emotionally, financially, and stability-wise.

"We are one of the biggest areas that has high suicide rates and mental illness, and we have no capacity to support these people."

Push for a 24/7 service

Horsham Rural City Council is pushing for the local mental health facility to operate 24 hours a day.

"It's actually a real concern that we haven't got anything here in Horsham that's 24-hour care close to home for the people that need it,"

Mayor Brian Klowss said.

Horsham is the region's largest population centre and referral hub, but there is no local inpatient unit.

Instead, the acute inpatient bed base is in Ballarat, two hours away from Horsham and even further for residents in smaller Wimmera towns.

Currently, if someone presented after hours to the emergency department at the Wimmera Base Hospital with a mental health issue, there would be no one in the ED with a mental health qualification to respond to their needs.

The most likely outcome is that the person would be connected with a telephone triage service based in Ballarat.

Cr Klowss said about 400 people from the Wimmera were admitted or transported to Ballarat Hospital annually for mental health-related issues.

"I think we've just been left out of the mix … I think there's a real, genuine need for this service," Cr Klowss said.

Concerning data

Mental Health Victoria chief executive Phillipa Thomas said some areas across the Wimmera had "really stark" rates of mental health distress and illness, which were disproportionately higher than the rest of the state.

Data from a Western Victorian Primary Health Network report last year showed rates of emergency department presentations for mental health and behavioural disorders for Horsham were 2.15 times higher than Victoria's average.

Rates of avoidable deaths from suicide and self-inflicted injuries in the Wimmera over the five years to 2021 were also significantly higher than the state average.

"If you look at the distribution of mental health services across Victoria … it is impossible to ignore the fact that the needs of that community are not served in the same way as other parts of the state,"

Ms Thomas said.

A 'black spot'

Member for Lowan and shadow minister for mental health Emma Kealy agreed there was a "huge gap" in mental health services in the Grampians and Wimmera region.

"It's simply not viable just to have the proverbial ambulance at the bottom of the cliff."

Uniting Vic.Tas Head of mental health Linsie Davies said a mental health and wellbeing officer who could help address multiple barriers would benefit people in the Wimmera.

"We regularly see and hear stories about people losing their homes, relationships, jobs and sadly lives as people fall through the cracks because there have been delays in receiving mental health treatment," she said.

A spokesperson for Grampians Health said there were currently no plans for a 24/7 inpatient mental health facility in Horsham.

A Victorian government spokesperson said people in the region could already connect with crisis assessment, treatments and other supports through the Grampians Mental Health and Wellbeing service.