Toowoomba QAS co-responder program leads to 75 per cent reduction in hospital visits for mental health patients

A pioneering mental health program has been hailed a success after less than three months, reducing hospital trips and empowering paramedics.

A pioneering frontline program in Toowoomba has cut the number of ambulance trips for patients with mental health issues by as much as 75 per cent.

The newly-launched mental health co-responder service, which pairs senior paramedics and mental health clinicians, has been declared a success after less than three months.

The program, which was rolled out in Toowoomba in May, gives more options to patients who are experiencing a mental health crisis, such as anxiety, suicidal thoughts or other episodes.

New data from the Queensland Ambulance Service has revealed three-quarters of the 200 call-outs for the service in Toowoomba since the launch didn’t require a hospital trip.

It eases some of the pressure on the city’s strained hospital system, considering mental health episodes are not only the second-highest reason for a paramedic call but also nearly always result in an ambulance ride.

QAS Mental Health Response Program director Sandra Garner as the Toowoomba Mental Health Co-Responder Service, a program that pairs a QAS senior paramedic with a senior mental health clinician from Darling Downs Health, is rolled out, Tuesday, May 16, 2023. Picture: Kevin Farmer

Program director Sandra Garner said the results had been promising.

“The 70-75 per cent are avoiding ED altogether, but those 30 per cent who do need to go to hospital are filtered in an appropriate way,” she said.

“What it does is provide the most appropriate treatment and care to a person close to home — an ED is not always the best place for a person in this situation.

“A mental health patient will wait nine to 11 hours in hospital, so this allows us to smooth out that process.”

Paramedic Leeanne Carrick, who is getting ready to do her first shifts with the co-responder team soon, said she had seen a big difference for not just patients but her colleagues.

Paramedic Leeanne Carrick, who works as a reliever at Drayton ambulance station, says the newly-launched mental health co-responder program is having promising results in Toowoomba.

“The people that have been on it the most have expressed where they felt they’ve learnt a lot about what they can do to support mental health care patients, and they can take those learnings back to the normal acute ambulance service,” she said.

“They’ve talked about watching a mental health clinician do a full assessment and learning the key questions to ask them.

“It’s made a huge difference.”

Ms Garner said benefits for paramedics had been a major takeaway from the program’s rollout.

“The biggest outcome we have found is that paramedics are telling us they don’t feel they have the confidence to address people in mental health crises, and this has elevated their abilities,” she said.

Health Minister Shannon Fentiman and QAS assistant commissioner for Darling Downs Michelle Baxter tour the new ambulance station at Drayton.

The co-responder team is based at the new Drayton Ambulance Station, which was officially opened by Health Minister Shannon Fentiman on Wednesday.

“We know that after falls, acute mental health call-outs are the most common for paramedics across the Darling Downs, so it’s important that we’re investing money into this program,” she said at the launch.