Partner services with Bowral Mental Health

Bowral Mental Health Service has a partnership arrangement with the specialist mental health inpatient facilities at the Campbelltown Hospital campus. These allow people with acute mental health illnesses to receive state-of-the-art treatment services in close proximity to where they reside.Inpatient mental health services at Campbelltown Hospital are the Psychiatric Emergency Care Centre (PECC Unit); the Sub-Acute Unit; Waratah House and Gna Ka Lun, the adolescent mental health unit.The PECC Unit is the most recent addition to the mental health facilities at Campbelltown. It is a six-bed unit adjacent to the Emergency Department which allows for the more appropriate care of persons who may require a relatively short admission for stabilisation prior to discharge home and further outpatient care. Because of its close proximity to the Emergency Department the physical health of the patients can also be carefully monitored during their admission. The Unit is particularly important in that it frees up beds in the busy Emergency Department, and allows for those mental health patients, requiring a more lengthy treatment, to access the long-stay beds in the other inpatient units.The Sub-Acute Unit was established to provide longer-term rehabilitation and recovery programs for young people (16-25) with a mental illness. This facility provides a necessary resource particularly for those young people experiencing a first episode psychosis. Early intervention generally means a more positive long-term outcome of the young person gaining stability in the life. A very wide-ranging program to develop skills for independent living often ensures that the young person can re-enter the world with more opportunity to live independently with minimal support. All patients are encouraged to continue their treatment following their discharge from the unit.Waratah House is the oldest of the inpatient mental health facilities at Campbelltown. It is an adult unit of 30 beds, a few of which are located in a special observation area that ensures the safety of acutely unwell people whose behaviour may be less predictable. The balance of the beds are located in a motel style complex where patients have their own rooms and access to common areas for social contact and meals. Waratah House offers a wide range of services for adults with mental health illnesses and disorders. The staff offer a therapeutic environment with a multi-disciplinary team of mental health professionals.Gna Ka Lun is the adolescent mental health unit based at Campbelltown Hospital. The name means "Healing of the mind" and was kindly given to the unit by an Aboriginal Elder of the local Tharawal people. The Gna Ka Lun unit has 10 rooms for young people with a mental illness who need to stay in hospital. They also run a day program for some clients who experience ongoing difficulties as a direct result of a major mental illness. The team at Gna Ka Lun is a multi-disciplinary team consisting of nursing, allied health and medical professionals trained to look after the needs of young people. They run a program that emphasises the link between education, physical health and mental health. They plan individual and group programs that target the "normal" requirements for healthy adolescent development.Gna Ka Lun is a tertiary referral centre and will accept referrals from mental health clinicians, psychiatrists, or any NSW hospital. For clients coming from rural or remote areas of NSW, accommodation may need to be sought for primary care givers (parents/guardians). Family members or carers are welcome to visit the unit from 4 pm to 8.30pm Monday to Friday, and 10 am to 8.30pm on the weekends. Friends of the young people are allowed to visit as long as they are accompanied by an adult.