Statewide Mental Health Directorate
The Statewide Forensic Mental Health Service provides comprehensive mental health care to offenders, young people, and formal forensic patients in the NSW correctional system. This can occur in ambulatory, hospital, courts and community settings.
All adult and juvenile offenders have a comprehensive assessment, including a mental health assessment, on reception into the correctional system. Referral to specialised mental health services such as specialist mental health nurses, psychiatrists, psychology and in-patient services is arranged through Justice Health health centres. A variety of models are used to provide mental
health care, depending on demand, including: visiting psychiatrists, mental health nurses, videoconferencing (psychiatry) services and telephone advice to general health staff. A psychiatrist and a registrar are on call (via telephone) for all correctional centres 24 hours per day.
Mental health services are supplemented by a number of specialised units operated by the Department of Corrective Services, including three acute crisis management units for offenders in the adult system.
The Statewide Forensic Mental Health Directorate is comprised of several units.
Ambulatory Services
Ambulatory mental health services are provided to all NSW correctional centres and all juvenile justice centres. In centre’s with no specialist mental health nurses, generalist nurses provide mental health triage and referral for further assessment and treatment.
Telehealth psychiatry offers increased availability of sessional and emergency psychiatric services to both rural and remote centres.
Inpatient Services
Long Bay Hospital provides for 95 high security, inpatient admission mental health beds which offer treatment and management for those with acute mental illness, in addition to some long stay rehabilitation beds. These are within a complex gazetted as both a prison and a hospital, and operated jointly by Justice Health and the Department of Corrective Services. With the construction of the new Forensic Hospital and Prison Hospital, the number of mental health beds at the Long Bay Complex will nearly double.
Mental Health Screening Units
A 40 bed adult male mental health screening unit at the Metropolitan Remand and Reception Centre (MRRC) and a 10 bed adult female mental health screening unit at Silverwater Women’s Correctional Centre (SWCC), screens offenders identified with mental health problems. Where offenders are not appropriate for court diversion, these units provide treatment and a management plan to assist in determining custodial placement and in discharge planning to ensure continuity of care.
Statewide Court Liaison Service
This service provides mentally ill offenders with court-based diversion options from the criminal justice system towards treatment in mental health facilities. There are Justice Health mental health practitioners in 17 courts across NSW.
In the 12 months to June 2008, 14,746 persons before the NSW Courts were screened for mental illness. Of these 1,990 had a comprehensive assessment and in 1,662 cases, a severe mental illness or disorder was identified. As a result 71% were dirverted to community care and mental health facilities.
Community Forensic Mental Health Service
This service provides specialist forensic assessments and advice for individuals with a serious mental illness presenting to the criminal justice system. Recently a pilot program with Northern Sydney Central Coast Area Health Service commenced in which forensic clinicians are allocated into the Area Health Service to work along side existing clinical teams to assist and manage mentally ill individuals at high risk of re-offending but who are managed in non-forensic environments.
The service has an ongoing role in monitoring and reviewing conditionally released patients in the community of which there are approximately 80 at anyone time. The service also collaborates with the Department of Corrective Services in the provision of treatment to sex offenders in custody and in the community.