Vulnerable young people stranded as mental health support wait times balloon

Thousands of vulnerable young Victorians have been left without crucial mental health support as wait times balloon in the under-siege system.

Thousands of vulnerable young Victorians are being denied mental health care as waiting times stretch up to 60 days.

Senior mental health workers warn young Victorians will die on waiting lists amid an emerging youth mental health crisis and spiralling demand since the height of the Covid pandemic.

By the start of 2021 non-existent waiting lists for psychological interventions at Victorian headspace centres had already jumped to 40 days – however they have surged again in recent months and are now extend up to 60 days.

It is understood 562 young people are waiting for psychiatrist and allied health appointments at headspace centres in Melbourne’s northwest alone. The situation is even more dire in regional areas of the state.

More severe cases needing specialist care through Orygen’s acute service in Melbourne’s north west also face a 139-person waiting list.

“Some of these people will die,” Orygen executive director Professor Patrick McGorry said.

“We know people have died on the waiting lists, and all of them will languish. If you delay a diagnosis in mental health there are a whole lot of other consequences.

“The mental health of young people was getting worse before the pandemic – the pandemic has really just pulled the pin on it.”

Prof McGorry said demand for youth mental health services had climbed by between 25 and 30 per cent in recent months, with the strain also driving five psychiatrists to quit the under-siege system in the past three months, further exacerbating the problem.

After being overwhelmed by a flood of new cases in ­recent months, mental health workers are pleading for both the state and national mental health systems to introduce emergency measures to immediately bolster the workforce and limit a post-pandemic crisis.

Wait times for mental health support have ballooned in Victoria.

Chief executive of headspace Jason Trethowan said much of the service’s new funding was tied up in lengthy talks between state and federal governments.

“These wait times are too long and more needs to be done now to fix the issue,” Mr Trethowan said.

“We are urgently calling on these governments to sign up to the agreements on mental health and suicide prevention.”

Decades of access issues in the state-funded acute psychiatric services prompted the 2020-21 royal commission, however Prof McGorry said waiting lists for federally funded services such as headspace were evidence of a growing ­crisis.

The Australian Association of Psychologists said the nation was in the midst of “the biggest mental health crisis this country has ever seen”.

David Coleman, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, said an “unprecedented” $2.3bn was allocated for landmark reforms in 2021.

“More than $870m is being invested over the next four years to significantly enhance and expand the headspace network to reduce wait times and ensure more young people have access to mental health support,” he said.

It comes after the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners warned the waiting list situation was “dire” with one in three psychologists closing their books to new patients.

RACGP president Dr Karen Price said it was a “national emergency, plain and simple”.

Dr Price urgently called for governments to relieve wait times by restructuring Medicare and creating longer GP consultations, including via telehealth.

“Patients can rapidly deteriorate without the right type of interventions and, for many people, consultations with their GP in combination with psychological services, are essential,” she said.

Victoria’s Minister for Mental Health, James Merlino, said his government was making mental health treatment more accessible for every young person, with walk-in, community-based care and acute hospital services bolstered under an $842 million investment in 2021.

“We’ve embarked on the biggest reform of a mental health system in our nation’s history – and we’re not wasting a minute building a system that works for every Victorian who needs care as soon as they need it, no matter where they live,” Mr Merlino said.

“Growing our mental health system to reach everyone who needs it also means growing our workforce – and through our Workforce Strategy, a campaign to attract the best and brightest mental health workers to help us build our new services and dedicated investment to get more mental health workers into regional Victoria, we’re doing the work to make sure our mental health services are something every Victorian can be proud of.”

Mr Merlino said it was relieving to see Victorian Agency for Health Information data indicating acute presentations to hospital for mental health concerns in young Victorians tracking downwards.