MENTAL health nurse Alistair Mason finished work at Tristar Medical Group’s Horsham and Ararat clinics on August 23 following months of uncertainty around changes to funding.
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It was reported in April that Western Victoria Primary Health Network’s new Services and Treatment for Enduring and Persistent Mental Illness model would replace the network’s Mental Health Nurse Incentive Program.
Tristar Medical Group mental health services manager Brett McKinnon said the new model would cut the group’s annual funding from $200,640 to $138,500 in 2018-19.
However, Tristar received notice from Western Victoria PHN in June that service providers had the option to extend funding by four months to help the transition process for existing clients. The funding extension will end on October 31.
Mr Mason said he made the decision to move further afield to Ballarat due to the funding pool “drying up”.
“I wouldn’t be leaving if it wasn’t for the instability, and it’s with a heavy heart that I’m leaving,” he said.
“I see lots of people every week, and for those people it’s up-in-the-air about who will be able to provide them with mental health treatment.
“There has been a lot of dismay from my clients. They have been wishing me well of course, but there are a lot of people who are concerned about what happens next for them and where they can access good quality treatment.”
The decision to reallocate the funding will come at a significant cost to the community.
- Tristar Medical Group mental health services manager Brett McKinnon
Mr Mason has worked in Horsham for about 15 years, spending the last seven as a mental health nurse.
He worked three days in Horsham and one day in Ararat each week, seeing more than 40 clients. Many travelled from over an hour away for appointments.
Mr McKinnon said Mr Mason’s departure meant Tristar Medical Group Horsham now only had one mental health nurse.
“In a Horsham context, they are losing 15 years of local knowledge in the sector,” he said.
“It means that 40-plus people per week will no longer have access to this level of expertise in an area that we don’t have the luxury to lose. The decision to reallocate the funding will come at a significant cost to the community.
“Depending on tenders going forward, we may in fact lose the entire service which will be catastrophic in a Horsham context.
“There has been extra funding propagated by the federal government, but that needs to be fast-tracked as soon as possible to plug some of the gaps.
“The pressure has been on to transition people with pre-existing care arrangements into new care arrangements.”
He said he wanted to recognise Mr Mason’s time at the group.
“We want to celebrate the fact that this community has had access to such a high level mental health care professional,” he said.
“There would be many people in the Wimmera community who would have benefited from Alistair's expertise, and there will be a high number of people who would be disappointed to see his services leave the district.”
Tristar Medical Group Horsham’s sole remaining mental health nurse Irina Bennewitz said she was losing a dear colleague.
“I’m also losing a service that worked really well for our community,” she said.
“We’re in primary care and are in a position to make a significant difference to people’s lives. We’re not taking on any new clients at the moment due to uncertainty.”
Mr Mason will take up a role at Ballarat Health Services, moving back into the acute psychiatry field.
