Minister for Health Ryan Park, Member for Shellharbour Anna Watson and ISLHD’s Julie Carter in the unit. Photo: Kellie O’Brien.
A new Safe Assessment Unit, designed to provide specialised care for patients experiencing mental health and substance abuse challenges, is expected to begin operation as part of Shellharbour Hospital’s emergency department (ED) by late August.
Minister for Health Ryan Park and Member for Shellharbour Anna Watson toured the new unit on Friday (4 July), with an official open date pending final staff recruitments.
Once operational, it will offer four beds within the existing hospital to provide more targeted support and treatment to some of the community’s most vulnerable patients.
In December, the State Government allocated $20.4 million over four years to the facility as part of a broader $50 million boost for drug and alcohol services in the Illawarra and Shoalhaven, with $2.6 million dedicated to establishing the unit.
Mr Park said the unit’s innovative approach allowed it to offer wraparound care in a safe, low-stimulus environment away from the busy emergency department.
He said patients would be admitted, assessed, and treated by a multidisciplinary team of clinicians who worked across mental health, clinical pharmacology and alcohol and drug teams.
“We know across NSW, drug and alcohol and mental health challenges often go hand-in-hand and we know the impacts that busy EDs, with lots of lights, lots of activity and lots of moving parts can have on people in those distressed situations,” he said.
“What the team has done here is establish a unit where we can give the very best of care to those people, at the same time continue to see the emergency department and the hospital operate as efficiently and as effectively as possible.”
Mr Park said it would be part of the new Shellharbour Hospital when completed in 2027, and aligned with existing specialist services, and considerations being made into a possible drug court in the region.
He said the idea was to keep numbers in the unit low, which was the model it would work towards as it moved into the new hospital in two years.
“We’ll have a look at the space, we’ll have a look at the demands on the unit, and make changes based on that,” he said.
“This new Safe Assessment Unit will help reduce pressure on Shellharbour’s busy emergency department by providing more appropriate care and treatment to drug and alcohol presentations.
“Safe Assessment Units create a safe environment, not only for patients presenting with disturbances associated with alcohol and drugs, but also for our frontline health workers and other patients presenting to our emergency departments.”
Inside the Safe Assessment Unit. Photo: Kellie O’Brien.
Mr Park said the reason Shellharbour was chosen was due to it already having a strong mental health facility with some of the “best mental health clinicians in NSW”.
“What we’ve tried to do here is utilise the skills of those mental health professionals, utilise the skills of our drug and alcohol professionals, but provide that care in a slightly different space – in a space that more reflects the needs and provides that better wraparound care for those in distress,” he said.
“I always say, if it was my parents or my family members or my two sons, if they presented, what would I like? And this is the sort of facility I think I would like.”
Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District (ISLHD) Integrated Community Services and Mental Health executive director Julie Carter said finding the remaining staff needed wouldn’t be difficult.
“The staff I’ve spoken to are really excited about this unit,” Ms Carter said.
“I don’t think we’re going to have a lot of trouble staffing this unit.”
Ms Carter said it wasn’t unusual to see one or two patients daily presenting with significant mental health or drug and alcohol concerns.
She said the unit would accommodate those patients for about 72 hours, with those requiring ongoing care to be transferred to its acute mental health unit on-site.
“The aim would be, for most people, to stabilise them within this unit, wrap around those services that are required to enable them to go home safely into the community,” she said.
She said it was one of only a few such units in NSW, with similar models of care resulting in improved patient outcomes, reduced need for sedation and restraint, and a reduction in the length of stay and time to be seen in EDs.
Ms Watson praised the initiative as a critical step in supporting the community’s healthcare needs.
“This is a first for the Illawarra – a drug and alcohol unit that goes hand-in-hand with mental health,” she said.
“This new unit will provide better support to our hardworking frontline health staff, and more timely, personalised care to some of the most vulnerable members of our community.”
Work on the unit was completed by Illawarra interior fitout and construction company Innovatus Projects.
