Demand for mental health care soars after island tragedy and suicides

The state government plans to step up mental health services to a remote island community, where there were four suicides in five months last year.

Macleay Island residents: Trainee paramedic Adrienne Carswell and care worker Teddie McElroy are campaigning for better mental health services on the four bay islands.

The state government plans to step up mental health services to a remote island community, where there were four suicides in five months last year.

Additionally, a tragic fire, which killed a family of six this month, reignited calls for increased psychology and mental health services, with some residents fearing the lack of local mental health services could lead to more suicide deaths.

Island residents claim local GP clinics were at capacity with wait lists to see a doctor to get a referral to a psychiatrist or psychologist for a mental health plan stretching to more than three weeks.

Three of the island GP practices contacted reported being fully booked for at least two days in advance.

Macleay Island resident Teddie McElroy said she has had to wait for more than three weeks to get a GP appointment for a referral to a psychologist to get a mental health care plan after three friends died by suicide.

Macleay Island resident and care worker Teddie McElroy said her pleas for more island mental health services had been ignored since three of her friends, including ex-boyfriend Kurtis Conboy, died from suicide last year.

She said she had been forced to wait more than three weeks to get mental health care and she now feared more people on the islands would take their own lives with many not realising how or where to get local help.

Ms McElroy said the remote community had “a thick blanket of sadness smothering it” after the fire tragedy and last year’s suicides.

Kurtis Conboy and his dog.

She said something needed to be done to alleviate the pressure on the local mental health services.

“When help is three weeks’ away with the potential to be five or six weeks before seeing a professional and the bottle shop is only 6km away, that is an easy option.

“It took a fortnight to get into a (local) doctor ... for a mental health care plan so I have since switched to another GP but I cannot get in until August 25.

“Three weeks is too long to wait.”

This week, the state government told island residents to use telehealth facilities for mental health care, ahead of a new community partnership service for addiction and mental health being established.

No date was given for the service’s launch but a government spokesman also said an addiction and mental health outpatient clinic was planned to open at the Redlands Satellite Hospital this month.

Tributes left for the six people who died in a house fire on Russell Island this month. Picture: News Corp

“Following the devastating fire on Russell Island recently and the tragic loss of six people, Metro South clinicians have maintained a daily presence on the island to support and assist the community in their grief and recovery, and continue to work with the Department of Communities and Redland City Council,” the spokesman said.

“Residents can contact MHCALL 24 hours a day, seven days a week, where they are able to speak with a mental health clinician for assessment, intervention and referral when appropriate.”

Regular outpatient clinics also operate on Russell and Stradbroke islands in designated clinics and some clinicians conduct home visits.

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare data released in November showed that the suicide rate for residents of remote areas, such as the bay islands, was nearly 47 per cent higher than in capital cities such as Brisbane.

The suicide statistics from October 2022 for Australia show 783 suicide deaths in Queensland for the 10 months of that year.

On bay islands and north of Brisbane, which has a population of 64,680, the AIHW data showed there were 71 suicides in 2021.

In the broader Brisbane area, 128 people had died by suicide in 2021 with 813 suicide deaths across the state compared to the national total of 3144.

Since 1907, the male age-standardised suicide rate has been consistently higher and more variable than the female rate.

Updated suicide data for the 12 months of 2022 is expected to be announced by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare in the next few weeks.

Originally published as Demand for mental health care soars after island tragedy and suicides