Emergency roundtable discussions have been held today as stakeholders push for state government support to keep The Hobart Clinic open.
The privately run mental health facility is set to close next week, with its final patient potentially leaving as early as tomorrow.
Union leaders and clinic staff are calling for urgent government intervention, warning that Tasmania is running out of time to save what they describe as a “world-class” mental health workforce.
“We need intervention in the next 24 hours to ensure that we keep the health force together,” said Robbie Moore, state secretary of the Health and Community Services Union.
“We have one of the best mental health workforces in the country at the Hobart Clinic … We need to ensure that they’re kept together and that this vital service continues.”
The closure would remove 27 residential mental health beds and Tasmania’s only inpatient Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) service.
TMS is a non-invasive treatment for major depression and anxiety disorders that do not respond to medication or electroconvulsive therapy.
A group of clinicians and health experts has put forward a proposal to take over the clinic’s management, led by psychiatrist Dr Rob Walters and a business turnaround specialist.
“This model is very viable, led by highly respected people,” Moore said.
“We have clinicians leading this, we have health experts and people that know how to turn a hospital around and make profits.”
He said the new plan differed from the clinic’s previous management, which he described as problematic.
The proposal calls on the government to reinstate existing funding for at least six months to allow time for strategic planning.
Opposition health spokesperson Sarah Lovell warned the public health system could not cope with the added demand.
“There are people waiting for psychiatric beds in the Royal Hobart Hospital for up to 90 hours,” she said.
“This is not a system that can absorb the impact of the closure of 27 residential beds.”
Registered nurse Kirstie Turnbull, who has worked at the clinic for 19 years, said staff and patients were given just one hour’s notice before the closure was made public.
“There is absolutely nowhere for them to go in Tasmania now because what we offer is indeed a very rich, diverse, long-term focus on complex mental health issues,” she said.
Turnbull said many patients would now need to travel to the mainland for TMS treatment.
“It’s very hard to consider going to the mainland when you’re feeling unwell and vulnerable,” she said.
“Tasmanians deserve to have a local service that provides that for them.”
Lovell accused Health Minister Bridget Archer of failing to respond adequately to the crisis.
“She’s completely washed her hands, she’s coming up with excuse after excuse, she’s refusing to meet with the staff, she hasn’t fronted the media,” Lovell said.
“I don’t know how anyone can understand how she thinks the public health system can absorb these patients.”
In a statement, Archer said she had convened a roundtable with the clinic, unions, and other stakeholders.
“While The Hobart Clinic advised us their business model is not sustainable, our government continues to work with stakeholders on potential alternatives,” she said.
Archer will also meet with Federal Health Minister Mark Butler today to discuss “the failing viability of privately run health facilities across the country”.
“It is very clear this is an ongoing national issue that will require the attention of the federal government and I will raise this directly with Minister Butler to ensure Tasmania’s voice is heard,” Archer said.
The state government has provided almost $7 million to the clinic since 2021.
