NURSES are buoyed by a meeting with health management last Friday attempting to resolve staff shortages at Goulburn’s Chisholm Ross Centre.
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Yet the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association has also urged authorities to look at the “big picture” of mental health services in striking a long-term solution.
Last week the local branch threatened to close eight beds at the Chisholm Ross Centre, including five in the main area and three in the high dependency unit.
Members said the situation had reached “crisis point” following management’s “continued failure” to fill 15 nursing positions.
The Association’s assistant general secretary Judith Kiejda said staff were exhausted and were frequently working double shifts to plug the gaps.
The local branch executive and lead organiser Linda Griffiths met with NSW Local Health District representatives in Goulburn on Friday.
The latter included District director of nursing Julie Mooney, District nurse unit manager (mental health) Tim Leggett and human resources officer Wendy Atkins.
“It went well, it was a very positive meeting,” Ms Griffiths told the Post.
“Their plan is to close four beds (in Chisholm Ross) because they’re very concerned about patient care and they don’t want it compromised,” she said.
Management also agreed to cap available beds at six in the adjoining nine-bed high dependency unit, cutting the need for an extra nurse.
Extra staff, including an on-call nurse unit manager, were also brought in over the weekend to manage the workload.
Ms Griffiths said the Health District had implemented some initiatives to reduce pressures.
This included a provision that “sleep out” patients from Kenmore Hospital and elsewhere, who came to Chisholm Ross for treatment, would be discharged to their place of residence at day’s end.
While most solutions were interim measures and allowed staff to “survive” at least the weekend, Ms Griffiths said the Health District was exploring arrangements over the next three months and longer-term solutions.
Another meeting with the Association was held on Monday to this end. Further nurse recruitment is on the agenda but so too is consideration of a mental health graduate program that would entice staff to stay in the area.
“We felt that they were committed to fixing the problem and we’re committed to working with them,” she said.
A union delegation, including Goulburn branch secretary Jane Cotter, also met with Goulburn MP Pru Goward on Monday.
They pressed Ms Goward to consider “the big picture” in local mental health, Ms Griffiths said.
“The Ron Hemmings cottages (housing patients) are closed, which means nine beds are not available,” she said.
“It contributes to these other problems which she (Ms Goward) needs to know about.
“When mental health dollars are depleted to the degree they are, these things all add pressure.”
Ms Griffiths believed there were also shortages within the Community Health mental health team and caseworkers were carrying huge workloads.
When they could not be adequately covered, patients ended up back inside Chisholm Ross, adding to pressures.
In addition, she had heard of Canberra mental health patients presenting to Queanbeyan health services and being transferred to Chisholm Ross.
“It is all adding pressure to an already struggling service and nurses are reaching breaking point,” Ms Griffiths said.
