The revelations came after a concerned parent told Post their child’s rehabilitation and release plans had been drastically fast-tracked and they were now worried about the possible ramifications.

Ms Goward was concerned by the claims so she followed up with the department. She says the bed closures at Kenmore were in the psychogeriatric unit, meaning they wouldn’t have affected a young person.

“It was a very distressing letter (to the editor) but the closures in the psychogeriatric unit – geriatric meaning elderly – wouldn’t have impacted on their child’s needs,” she said.

Ms Goward also said that there had been a fundamental shift in the thinking about the delivery of psychiatric care over the past three decades.

“It really started with the closure of psychiatric hospitals 30 years ago when Kenmore was originally decommissioned,” she explained.

“It was always going to be the case that you don’t want to keep people permanently in hospital if they can live in the community in assisted accommodation and the National Disability Insurance Scheme will mean a lot of these people will no longer have to be institutionalised.

“What we should be focusing on is preventing mental illness and working with people during the crisis stage instead of putting them into facilities semi-permanently.” 

A Southern NSW Local Health District spokesperson confirmed psychiatric care nurses were in short supply and that the department is actively recruiting more. In the meantime however, 24 beds are closed across the city’s mental health facilities.

“Twenty-four of the 32 beds at the Chisholm Ross Centre are presently operating. This includes 12 new beds of which four are operating now. These new beds are being gradually opened over a period of approximately 12 months to allow time to recruit new staff…” the spokesperson said.

“As a result of NSW Health policy directions to de-institutionalise elderly persons with mental illness and those with significant behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia, a number of long term residents from the (Kenmore) Psychogeriatric Unit have now been placed in community settings.

“This means that the occupancy rate in the Psychogeriatric Unit has been low for some time and the service is currently operating 16 beds which have been consolidated into two wings instead of the 32 beds in four wings of eight beds.

“All 22 beds in the Kenmore Extended Care Unit are currently operating although not all of these are currently occupied, because of low demand in recent months.” The spokesperson also told the Post no patients had been discharged as a result of bed closures.

“Patient discharges are always planned on the basis of clinical considerations and the most appropriate location and type of treatment,” they said.

“This might include supervised and supported home-based care or follow up visits from mental health and other medical professionals. There is a worldwide trend towards community-based treatment of mental illness rather than long term hospital admissions. No patients at Goulburn have been discharged to reduce bed numbers.” 

Ms Goward will continue to monitor the situation closely but believes the problem facing the local mental health sector isn’t a lack of funding or political will. It is simply that recruiting psychiatric nurses can be a difficult process due to a lack of available stock.

They are in high demand, she says, therefore the department needs to be permanently recruiting to replace those who choose to move on. More must also be done to encourage young people into the profession.

“Psychiatric illness is the single biggest social problem in Australia,” she said.

“It’s a huge contributor to crime, child protection concerns, unemployment and tragedy. So, I think… we need to start taking it seriously at all levels of government.”