Are short-term funding contracts killing mental healthcare in our region?

Long story short, it's a lack of staff and uncertainty around funding.

After giving evidence to a parliamentary inquiry on community mental health care in NSW, the Leader sat down with two of HealthWISE's head honchos to take a deeper dive into the issues.

Louise Ingall, manager of Strategy Research and Engagement at HealthWISE, said one of the best things the state government could do to tackle both issues is accept a recommendation made by the Productivity Commission nearly four years ago.

The commission's report said contracts for mental health programs should be given longer funding cycles, giving them at least five years to establish themselves and a six-month notice period at end of contract.

Ms Ingall said committing to long-term funding would have an impact on two of the sector's biggest issues: attracting more workers by improving job security and spreading awareness of what services were available.

"When a provider is commissioned for five years to deliver a service, there's an opportunity to educate the people in the community about the service and also help GPs know what the service is and who's eligible," she said.

HealthWISE manager Mental Health and Credentialed Mental Health nurse, Anne Galloway, said fixing the region's growing mental health issue would be all about improving people's access to services.

"That's a really difficult challenge facing regional and remote NSW. There's no one solution," Ms Galloway said.

She said advancements in telehealth services and the building of Tamworth's new Banksia Acute Mental Health Unit were two initiatives that would help our region, but there was "high demand" for care that fits in the space between.

"If somebody is aware that they're not travelling well, we need to make sure they're not just disappearing or avoiding getting a referral because it's a six-month waiting list. Issues like that can become invisible until it gets to the point where it needs an emergency response in an acute care unit," Ms Galloway said.

"In order to prevent people getting to that point we need investment into the community and the services that will assist in early identification, reducing deterioration, and promoting recovery."

On top of supporting service providers, a major concern for mental healthcare in our region is helping people navigate the diverse sources of support now available.

HealthWISE's engagement manager told the Leader current tools for navigating the mental healthcare landscape - such as the government's diagnostic quiz - could be intimidating or difficult to finish.

"If I'm in that situation where I need advice but maybe not from 000, I might end up on a website getting asked mountains of questions, and I don't have the time to filter information when I'm in that situation" Ms Ingall said.

"We need people to have a simple directory for people to access mental health information ... the easier it is for all of us to be able to access this information the more it's going to help us."

Ms Ingall and many others at the inquiry pointed out the very real challenge of reaching patients in remote and rural areas where internet connectivity can't be taken as a given.

"Everyone at the inquiry spoke about internet reliability. Having a technical issue is the last thing you want when you're in the middle of opening yourself up during a conversation with a clinician," she said.

Both Ms Ingall and Ms Galloway said they hoped the inquiry would result in improvements for our region, but emphasised there was more we could do without waiting for the government's help.

One of the biggest things they say HealthWISE continues to focus on is building community resilience and capacity for knowledge-sharing.

One successful example they pointed to is the ongoing "Touchpoints" workshops which equip everyday people with the skills they need to support friends or family experiencing suicidal ideation.

On top of that, the non-profit has been working to diversify its workforce by drawing on the wisdom of locals with lived experience.

Ms Galloway said creating a mix of paid and volunteer roles for people who could support their qualified mental health clinicians with on-the-ground expertise was an initiative HealthWISE had been building up for years.

"It's an investment into the community providing these services," she said.

Outside of the non-profit, Ms Galloway said there was a lot of work to do to improve how mental health services communicated with, and referred patients to, one another.

HealthWISE's written submission to the inquiry - authored by the non-profit's staff and affiliates across the region - made multiple references to the "silo mentality" many providers have and the difficulty obtaining "vital background information" on patients.

Ms Galloway said a greater uptake of national initiatives like MyHealth was gradually making information easier to share, but also wanted patients to have more control over their medical data.

"One of the solutions I suspect could be investigated a little more is giving the client their information, letting them be in control of it," she said.

"If you get a referral from a GP for an ingrown toenail, they'll give you a hard copy. If you get a referral for a mental health issue that hard copy isn't always given."