Mental health counselling cuts hit hard

Kate Aubusson, Amanda Parkinson and Amy Corderoy
smh.com.au
November 28, 2011

JACQUI LOVE is not looking forward to Christmas. She is worried about the financial and emotional strain, and going without the counselling she needs to cope.

Following a $580 million cut to the Better Access program in November, the number of yearly counselling sessions mental health patients can claim from Medicare dropped from 18 to 10. This potentially leaves tens of thousands of people cut off from help.

Many mental health experts agree the program funding should be diverted elsewhere, arguing the cuts simply highlight desperate and widespread need.

But that is cold comfort for Ms Love and nearly 85,000 others who reached the 10-session cap in 2010.

The president of Australian Clinical Psychologists Association, Judy Hyde, said some psychologists were offering free or discounted treatment because they did not want to leave patients high and dry.

The director of Weave South Sydney Mental Health, Shane Brown, said: “Without Better Access our psychologist feels compelled to see . . . patients free of charge because they can’t afford private services.”

Psychologist Robyn Dwyer said he was offering his clients two pro bono sessions, as he believed it could be unethical to cut therapy short.

But for psychologist Ben Callegari pro bono sessions are not financially viable.

A previously stable patient attempted suicide after hearing of the cuts.

This week the Greens moved a motion in the Senate to disallow the cuts at least until other services were in place, but it was delayed and will not be debated until February.

The federal Department of Health said money saved from Better Access would be reinvested in the Access to Allied Psychological Services, Headspace and online treatments. But funding is expected to roll out over five years, leaving patients with few options in the interim.

The chairwoman of the recent Senate inquiry into Better Access, Rachel Siewert, recommended an additional six services be granted to people with a severe or persistent mental illness and cuts be delayed until other projects were adequately equipped.

The executive director of the Brain and Mind Research Institute at the University of Sydney, Ian Hickie, said Better Access exacerbated inequalities in care, with 2 1/2 times more services going to the highest 20 per cent of incomes compared to the lowest. “I’m not saying they don’t have care needs, but doesn’t anyone care about inequity any more?”

Professor Hickie said the most common number of sessions used under Better Access was five, and people who needed extended treatment were often not suited to the scheme.

He said it was hypocritical for psychologists to highlight their patients and ignore the many, often very ill people who never received treatment.

The chief executive of the Mental Health Council of Australia, Frank Quinlan, said it would be better if mental health treatments did not have to compete, but the growth in spending was unsustainable.

Better Access was essentially unlimited, creating tension between it and other programs.

This article appeared on the Sydney Morning Herald website at: http://www.smh.com.au/national/health/mental-health-counselling-cuts-hit-hard-20111127-1o1k7.html