Clark Centre remains open

29 October 2009

The Clark Centre mental health unit in Armidale is to remain open over the Christmas-New Year period.

Area Director for Hunter New England Mental Health Dr Dinesh Arya said the health service had listened to the concerns expressed in the local community over the plan to close the centre for two weeks during the holiday period.

“Although we feel that the plan we had in place for coverage over the Christmas period would have worked and that there would have been adequate services in place, we understand the community's concerns that they have not had enough time to consider the plan thoroughly,” Dr Arya said.

“We have listened to these concerns and that is why this year we will keep the Clark Centre open for service over the Christmas period.”

Dr Arya said the eight-bed voluntary inpatient centre would be maintained at fully operational levels and its utilisation monitored to assist with future planning.

The temporary service change was to have been in place for two weeks from Wednesday, 23 December 2009 during what in previous years has been a quite period.

“Next year we may consider service changes over the Christmas period at the Clark Centre, however we will ensure that staff and the community are consulted very early in the planning and that there is the opportunity for feedback and consultation before any changes are determined,” Dr Arya said.

“We want our staff and the community to have confidence in our mental health services.

“Last year there were periods where there was only one patient admitted, and other times there were no patients at all in the eight-bed centre.

“We were very confident that we could provide appropriate clinical support and care to anyone who may have needed assistance during the coming holiday period.

“However, we understand that the decision to temporarily change the service, if only for two weeks, caused some anxiety in the community,” he said.

Contact: Frances Holz

Phone: 4939 2216