THE SCHN MHID HUB: THE LAUNCH OF A STATE-WIDE SPECIALISED SERVICE TO ENHANCE EDUCATION, INTEGRATION AND SERVICE PROVISION

ABSTRACT

Background: In 2019, NSW Health funded the Developmental Psychiatry Team to provide a limited consultation service, accessible to all of NSW with multidisciplinary staffing for 2 days/week. Objectives: To enhance services to children and adolescents with intellectual disability and autism and mental health problems through capacity building, specialist service provision and integration with mainstream services. Methods: Service agreement, referral criteria and a range of services were established and made available on a website. Findings: The COVID-19 pandemic made access more equitable by video conference enabling service partners to attend from different sites. In July 2020, an educational webinar was launched to 500 virtual attendees. Flexible service provision to paediatric and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) varies from email or telephone consultation to case supervision, to direct (video) or joint consultation. A medical referral ensures long-term medical case management. New cases (100) are seen per year, with evidence of improved functioning. Capacity building includes a growing library of webinars, a journal for the mental health (MH) of children and adolescents with intellectual or developmental disability, scholarships for training in Stepping Stones Parenting and The Westmead Feelings Program, and emotional learning for autism. Enhanced collaboration is growing with both paediatric and MH services, public and private. Conclusion: SCHN MHID Hub is part of the development of health and MH specialist intellectual disability service provision to enhance mainstream capacity as part of a state-wide plan. An independent iterative evaluation by the UNSW is underway, which should facilitate permanent funding.