With the increased prevalence of mental health related issues affecting our communities, Sandy has continued to advocate for more services in the Noosa Electorate and surrounding areas which has included but not limited to the following:

  • A mental health triage service at Noosa Hospital.
  • The Better Care Together (BCC) program (drop-in and crisis spaces) for the Sunshine Coast with outreach to Noosa.
  • A Homeless Health Outreach Team (HHOT) and Cultural Healing Team (CHT) staff member located at Noosa Hospital, and expanded services to have on call staff over the weekend.
  • A second Queensland Ambulance Co-responder Service (CORE) in the Noosa Region.
  • Police Acute Care Emergency Responder (PACER) program expanded to weekend service and coverage of Noosa Hospital.
  • Alcohol and Other Drug services (AODS) satellite service at Noosa Hospital.

To date, below has been achieved:

  • A mental health triage service for mental health presentations to the Noosa emergency department is offered to Noosa Hospital using telehealth with specialists at Nambour General Hospital.
  • New BCT funding and services are being developed, however a potential location is not yet known.
  • HHOT and CHT, which are community outreach services based at Centenary Square in Nambour. Both programs now provide outreach services to the Noosa region.
  • A second CORE based in Yandina commenced in February 2024, and services Noosa. The CORE is a collaborative model with the SCHHS mental health clinicians and the Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS). The model provides the pairing of a mental health clinician and an experienced QAS Paramedic in a dedicated local area assessment referral unit vehicle (LARU). This service provides specialist mental health responses to people experiencing a mental health crisis by delivering immediate assessment, short-term management and intervention within the Noosa community. The aim is to respond close to home, reduce the number of people experiencing a mental health crisis transported to the Emergency Department (ED), and develop appropriate, alternate assessment and treatment options. The QAS CORE receives calls through the QAS call distribution centre.
  • Alcohol and Other Drugs Service is also based in Nambour and offers a satellite clinic at the Noosa Community Health Centre (Noosa Junction) offering specialist psychological interventions and opioid replacement.

Whilst we appreciate the progress to date, with a new Government now established following the 2024 State Election, Sandy has raised the need to continue the expansion of mental health services in our area with the new Queensland Minister for Health. This includes a permanent mental health clinician at Noosa Hospital and requesting an update on the BCT establishment. In addition, a Noosa based CORE team as well as a local PACER, an AODS satellite service for Noosa Hospital and a residential program for teenagers with eating disorders.

If Noosa Electorate residents have any feedback on the above information, please email our office via noosa@parliament.qld.gov.au.

As mentioned in our October 2024 Noosa 360 update,  our local police are to be commended for their efforts in ongoing difficult times. It is good to see the new Youth Co-Responder Team for the Sunshine Coast being utilised, which was one of the recommendations from our Youth Justice Reform Committee (YJRC)’s report, with an independent evaluation finding that young people were less likely to commit serious crimes after engaging with these teams who provide targeted and collaborative engagement with at risk youth that helps divert young people away from offending.

Even though Noosa Hospital is private, they are contracted to provide some public services, hence Sandy’s continued work to ensure increased contracts in line with the hospital’s emergency department expansion being negotiated, which is crucial to deliver to our community and reduce impacts to others. All our Noosa 360 updates regarding Noosa Hospital are available at www.sandybolton.com/?s=noosa+hospital.

Following resident questions regarding new services being provided via Nambour General Hospital, we have previously posted a summary of these including the additional mental health inpatient beds at www.sandybolton.com/nambour-general-hospital-update-october-2024.

Further information

For further direct advocacy, consider emailing the Queensland Minister for Health via health@ministerial.qld.gov.au. Please copy our office in via noosa@parliament.qld.gov.au and forward us any response you receive.

For our previous Noosa 360 updates regarding health, please visit www.sandybolton.com/category/health-and-wellbeing-and-disability.

For our latest update on funded home birthing on the Sunshine Coast, please visit www.sandybolton.com/funded-home-birthing-on-the-sunshine-coast-update-may-2024.

Updates on many local matters are available on Noosa 360 at www.sandybolton.com/noosa360. To receive information straight to your email inbox, please subscribe to our monthly newsletter via www.sandybolton.com/newsletters. This also ensures you receive any future Noosa related surveys or polls.