Accessing the Bowral Mental Health Service

Accessing the Bowral Mental Health Service will often depend on the urgency and timing of the presentation. Community members who wish to access the service when their issues are still manageable may be advised to contact the Bowral Community Health Centre Intake Service on 4861 8000. The intake worker will take your call (or arrange to call you back if they are already speaking with someone), and take details of yourself and the issues you (or a family member) may have. The Community Health Centre is in Bendooley Place, 22-24 Bendooley Street, Bowral (next to the Library). This process obtains relevant information, allows the intake worker to allocate your call to the most appropriate service in the community health centre. The process is also called a “triage”, much the same as that used in hospital emergency departments. It allows the worker to assess the urgency of your need and this determines the speed of the response from the service providers. The Intake Service operates Monday to Fridays between the hours of 9am and 3pm. Outside of these hours the switch operator will most likely place your call to the relevant service team. Outside of the normal work hours at the Bowral Community Health Centre, access to the Mental Health Service is through the Bowral Hospital switchboard (4861 0200) where the incoming calls are re-directed to the hospital’s Emergency Department where skilled clinical staff will be able to assist and advise. If the on-call mental health worker is required the hospital will page the on-call staff member who will respond by phone. Should the worker be required to come to the hospital to see a patient they will do so. The Bowral Hospital is on the corner of Mona Road and Bowral Street. Sometimes a person with a mental illness may refuse to go to the Bowral Hospital. If the person’s behaviour is of concern to you then police or ambulance may be required to assist with transporting them to the hospital. Naturally, where personal safety is at risk, a call to “000” may be required to bring the most appropriate emergency service to the person with the mental illness. If the acute nature of the mental illness requires a rapid response it would be best to arrange for the person to be brought to the Bowral Hospital’s Emergency Department. They can arrive in private transport or be brought to the hospital by ambulance or police. The Hospital staff will triage the person upon presentation and contact the staff of the mental health service, who will respond and provide support to the Emergency Department.