Neami National has released a new Insights paper sharing lessons from the first five years of operation of the Urgent Mental Health Care Centre (UMHCC) in Adelaide.
The paper, Insights: Urgent Mental Health Care Centre and System Reform, shares lessons that can help shape the future of mental health crisis care in Australia.
Established in March 2021, the UMHCC represents a significant innovation in Australia’s response to mental health crisis. It provides a free, 24/7, walk-in alternative to hospital emergency departments for people experiencing mental distress, including suicidal thoughts.
The paper’s findings highlight that how services are delivered is just as important as what is delivered.
The paper identifies several key insights:
- Safe and effective crisis care is strengthened when peer-informed practice, clinical capability and Lived Experience leadership work together.
- People experiencing significant psychological distress, including suicidal crisis, can be safely supported in a community-based setting when the right workforce, governance and psychologically safe environment are in place.
- The model is not only diverting people from emergency departments but also creating an accessible pathway for those who may otherwise delay, avoid or miss out on support.
- The model improves emergency system flow by providing ambulance services, police and emergency departments with a safe, community-based pathway for appropriate mental health crisis presentations.
- Safe transitions, warm handovers and follow-up support are critical safeguards in crisis care.
- Lived Experience leadership strengthens crisis care when it is genuinely embedded in governance and decision-making.
- The UMHCC demonstrates that crisis alternatives are most effective when commissioning approaches protect the features that distinguish them from hospital-based care.