Canberra's mental health services difficult to navigate: report

The government has released a new five year plan to change the way Canberrans access mental health treatment in the territory.

It said people accessing mental health services sometimes described them as siloed and difficult to navigate, while multiple funding streams created complexities for service providers.

The plan said there needed to be clear and accessible pathways between mental health services.

It drew on the lived experiences of people dealing with ACT's mental health system.

Among them, new mother Caroline struggled to get help for mental health concerns after the birth of her child. It was difficult to get an appointment with a psychiatrist and psychologist, and settled on working with her GP to find medication.

The plan said if the system was working better, starting with a post-birth visit from a community nurse, she may have never required medication.

The report highlighted ACT's mental health workforce issues, including a high turnover rate and safety concerns.

It said there were negative perceptions about working in mental health that needed to be addressed.

The rapid expansion of the mental health sector in the ACT had affected the workforce, creating competition for a limited pool of skilled people.

"Across the sector, high staff turnover, high workloads, challenging work environments, a lack resources and support for staff, limited career paths and the time and opportunities for training are some key factors that contribute to difficulties with attracting and retaining staff," the plan said.

"In addition, if employees are stressed, overworked and/or under-supported they are more likely to make errors and be less motivated to respond to individual client needs. High staff turnover can lead to losses of organisational knowledge, disruption to continuity of care and interruptions in the delivery of evidence-based practice and policies."

The report said more publicly available community health services for depression and suicidality were required.

"The services currently focus on support after a suicide attempt, whereas they need to focus on the overall wellbeing of the individual before suicide is attempted," it read.

The plan was developed with government, Capital Health Network and peak bodies.

Megan Cahill, chief executive officer of Capital Health Network, said the plan would helped create services that were person-centred and integrated.

"Ongoing collaboration is a feature of the plan and having all key stakeholders at the table presents an exciting opportunity to promote the planning and development of services that align with these priorities," she said.

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Mental Health Minister Shane Rattenbury said mental health concerns often required multi-agency responses.

"The challenges of COVID-19 have reinforced just how important it is that our community has access to a mental health and suicide prevention service system that works - providing those in need with the right services, in the right place, at the right time," he said.

"Services are receiving increasing requests for support, including requests from people who have never accessed mental health support services before."