The largest private hospital operator in Australia has moved to close the majority of psychological clinics, so that thousands of vulnerable patients are confronted with the prospect of being left without crucial care.
In a staff meeting earlier this month, Ramsay Health Care revealed that by September 17 of his 20 psychological clinics throughout the country would close.
Internal documents sent by the ABC to the staff state that the decision “was not made lightly” and followed an evaluation of the challenges in running a widespread network of clinics, including “increasing costs, unequal demand and operational complexity”.
A psychologist who works for Ramsay Health Care, who spoke about the state of anonymity because she is not authorized to speak publicly, said that she was very concerned about the impact on patient care.
She said that patients who were not retained by their current psychologist in a new practice, or picked up by another doctor, should find alternative care.
“Customers are left in the dark because they may have to wait a month or two to see their regular psychologist if they continue somewhere else, or they have to start again,” she said.
There is a possibility that vulnerable customers can be left in the dark. ((File: ABC News))
“The more customers go on and running doors, they ultimately give up.
“This is extremely frustrating because I try to plead for customers and the best customer care, but it is as if words fall on deaf ears, they don’t worry about concern.”
Ramsay Health Care is the largest private provider of psychology services of Australia and the clinics see a series of risky patients with various psychological disorders, including young children, for disorders such as depression or PTSD.
The provider also has individual clinics for mental health care, but they will not be influenced by the change.
A briefing memorandum that was sent to the staff said that three clinics – in Cairns, Charlestown and Joondalup – would remain open, and it was “to explore the merits” of expanding existing psychology -teleHealth services.
But the memorandum said that Ramsay Health Care did not “ran away from mental health care”.
“We continue to work to support high -quality, accessible services, either in hospitals, in communities or online,” said the memorandum.
“This decision reflects a growing demand from the community for mental health care that is easily accessible, flexible, handy and connected to other services.”
An assessment of the health department into the viability of the private hospital system, commissioned by the Albanian government and published in Summary last year, identified the falling mental health care as an important problem.
It noted that the sector had expressed concern about access to psychiatric services in private hospital and the difficulty in attracting and retaining psychiatrists who were willing to work in a hospital environment.
While the number of psychiatric services subsidized by Medicare increased by almost 20 percent from 2018-19 to 2021-22, the number of services provided in a private setting fell by around 15 percent in the same period.
‘Decree will put the public system under pressure’
Psychiatrist Patrick McGorry said there was a “big risk” that the clinical closures would see that some patients left without care. ((Delivered: Orygen))
Eminent psychiatrist and former Australian of the Year, Patrick McGorry said there was a “big risk” that the clinical closures would see that some patients left without care.
“We have all this access problem, with only 50 percent of people who need mental health care who have access to it at all, and often after long delays,” he said.
“This may aggravate that situation.
“It may throw more patients back on a public sector that is seriously under -financed at state level and in crisis in various states.
“So I think this is not a good signal to send to the public.”
In a statement, Ramsay Health Care said it reformed how the community -based support for mental health care was, “to better meet the developing needs of clients and clinicians”.
“We understand that this change can be disturbing and we work closely with our psychologists to ensure that every customer is supported and has a continuity of care, whether it is our existing and extensive TeleHealth service or with another trusted provider, depending on what is clinically appropriate,” a spokeswoman said.
“This change is part of Ramsay’s wider strategy to strengthen how we provide high-quality, accessible and connected care in hospital, home and virtual institutions.”
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