Construction is in full swing on a major redevelopment of Flinders Medical Centre's mental health inpatient unit, as a new recruitment campaign kicks off to lure mental health professionals to South Australia from interstate and overseas.
The Margaret Tobin Centre expansion will increase mental health bed numbers at the centre from 38 to 48, including a brand-new 12-bed Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), up from eight beds.
The expansion is scheduled for completion by the end of the year and is part of a $498 million redevelopment, jointly funded by the Malinauskas and Albanese Labor governments, that will see 160 extra beds delivered across Flinders Medical Centre and the Repat.
Major demolition works are now complete at the site, with supporting earthworks near completion. Construction of a new section of linkway is now also underway, which will pass under the external entrance of Margaret Tobin Centre, connecting staff to the PICU.
The new PICU extension at Margaret Tobin Centre is also starting to take shape with the ground slab poured.
This construction milestone comes as the For Work. For Life. recruitment campaign is revamped, specifically targeting mental health professionals from interstate and overseas for current and future vacancies across regional and metro SA.
The campaign will run throughout April, May and June online, on social media and in specialist health publications across Australia, the United Kingdom, Ireland and New Zealand. Campaign materials can be viewed here.
A recruitment campaign was one of the key recommendations of the Psychiatry Workforce Plan: South Australia, conducted by the Office of the Chief Psychiatrist in conjunction with the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists and consultancy firm, Ernst & Young.
The workforce plan, online here, was commissioned by the State Government, recognising a critical workforce shortage in psychiatry across both the public and private sectors and committing to partnering with psychiatrists to develop a long-term workforce plan.
In addition to the recruitment campaign, the report's key findings include recruitment strategies in the shorter term, increases in training, and specific strategies for sub-specialist areas including child and adolescent psychiatry and for rural areas.
Progress in a number of these areas is happening already, or is a part of future planning. These works all support the State Government's investments to build more than 130 new mental health beds for patients to receive the care they need and free up emergency departments, including opening a record number of new mental health beds and services in South Australia.
In addition to the Margaret Tobin expansion, this includes building 72 new mental health beds across The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Noarlunga Hospital, and Modbury Hospital in brand new mental health wards; an extra 10 mental health beds in the New Women's and Children's Hospital; six additional mental health beds in the Mount Gambier Hospital; a new 12-bed mental health ward in the new Mount Barker Hospital, and a 16-bed purpose-built Northern Crisis Stabilisation Centre.
In March, there were 15 per cent more mental health presentations to metro emergency departments compared to the same time last year.
Opening extra mental health beds will help create more capacity in the system as a whole, reducing bed-block.
One of the contributors of bed-block is elderly patients stuck in hospital who don't need to be there. There are currently 263 patients stuck in metro hospitals ready for discharge but awaiting a Federal aged care placement – a 137 per cent increase compared to October 2023 when there were 111 patients stuck.
Latest ambulance response times data shows many more lights and sirens emergencies are being reached on time under the Malinauskas Labor Government, as a result of the Government's huge investments in the ambulance service.
In March, 67.6 per cent of Priority 1 incidents were seen on time, compared with 59.4 per cent in March 2022 when the Malinauskas Government was elected.
For Priority 2 cases, 63.8 per cent were reached on time, compared to 40.9 per cent in March 2022.
Ambulances spent 4,134 hours ramped outside metro hospitals in March, a 25 per cent reduction compared to last July despite more ambulance transports and ED presentations.
There were 604 more ambulance transports to hospitals in March, compared to the same month last year, the equivalent of 19 more ambulance transports a day.
Full response times and ramping data – including a hospital-by-hospital breakdown – can be found here.
As put by Chris Picton
It's great to see construction in full swing at the Margaret Tobin Centre, as part of our huge beds boost for the south. This expansion is also part of our major increase in mental health beds across the state.
More beds, including for mental health patients, will help free up space in our hospitals and reduce bed-block.
We're also launching a recruitment campaign to lure more mental health workers from across the borders and overseas to work in South Australia. Since being elected, the Government has recruited more than 1400 additional health workers above attrition and we want to go even further.
The Psychiatry Workforce Plan is now complete which we commissioned to ensure we have long-term planning for our state's mental health workforce, and we're already acting on recommendations such as the recruitment campaign.
As put by SALHN Division of Mental Health Clinical Director, Dr Titus Mohan
It's exciting to see construction progressing for the new mental health beds here at FMC, which will greatly enhance care for mental health consumers in the south.
We are committed to ensuring our services are future-proofed for years to come as our community in the south continues to grow, and this expansion of mental health services is helping us achieve that goal.
As put by Chief Psychiatrist, Dr John Brayley
The Psychiatry Workforce Plan is based on extensive data analysis and describes what is needed over the next 10 years to deliver services.
It covers both public and private psychiatrist numbers, noting that the public sector is the key training provider for future specialists. The work in developing the plan was collaboratively done by our office on behalf of the Department of Health and Wellbeing and the state branch of the College of Psychiatrists. We are grateful for the work of those who participated.
Work is already underway to implement recommendations of the Plan, and we are pleased to be able to release it today and publish detailed data and projections on our website.
As put by Dr Patrick Clarke, Chair of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists SA Branch
In a major step forward, South Australia has done what no other government in Australia has — delivered a real plan to tackle the psychiatry workforce crisis that the whole country is struggling with.
It shows the Malinauskas Government is serious about fixing the state's mental health system by listening to the voices of the people who rely on it and those who serve at its frontlines.
This plan is a lifeline for South Australians who have been missing out on the support they need, and a workforce that has been burning out under relentless demand. It's also a blueprint for other states and territories to follow.
We thank Minister Picton and his government for taking a crucial step towards rebuilding a workforce that cares for some of the most vulnerable people in the state living with serious and complex mental health conditions.
We stand ready to roll up our sleeves and get to work with the SA Government to make this plan a reality.
