- The Crisafulli Government is strengthening perinatal mental health support on the Sunshine Coast and delivering health services when Queenslanders need them.
- A new $27 million Mother and Baby Unit at Nambour General Hospital will enable mothers to receive mental health care while staying with their babies.
- The new unit is part of the Queensland Government's more than $160 million investment to deliver 30 additional public mother-and-baby mental health beds, and additional supports across the State.
- After Labor's decade of decline, the Crisafulli Government is delivering easier access to health services and ensuring mental health levy funds are, in fact, delivering better mental health services and care.
Sunshine Coast mothers experiencing serious mental health challenges after childbirth will have easier access to specialist care closer to home without being separated from their babies, with the Crisafulli Government delivering a new $27 million, eight-bed Mother and Baby Unit at Nambour General Hospital. The purpose-built unit will provide short to medium-term acute mental health care for mothers while allowing them to remain with their babies in a safe and therapeutic environment, helping families stay together during what can be one of the most difficult periods of their lives. The new Sunshine Coast unit is part of the Crisafulli Government's more than $160 million investment from the Mental Health Levy to strengthen perinatal mental health services across Queensland, including delivering 30 additional public Mother and Baby Unit beds across the State.
It's just one of the ways the Crisafulli Government is delivering easier access to health services and healing Labor's Health Crisis. It follows a Queensland Audit Office report which exposed ineffective governance and management of the Mental Health Levy under the former Labor Government, including funding being directed towards initiatives that did not align with the levy's intended purpose. Labor also promised 30 new Mother and Baby Unit beds before the election with a $39 million commitment that was not backed by approved Mental Health Levy funding and would not have been enough to deliver its promised program. The promised $39 million was woefully inadequate and would not have met even the cost of Labor's proposed eight-bed Townsville unit, leaving its broader promise of 30 additional beds without the funding required to deliver them.
The Crisafulli Government has now fully funded the statewide expansion, providing a clear pathway to deliver all 30 additional beds and give more Queensland mothers access to specialist mental health care when they need it. The Sunshine Coast is one of six locations receiving additional perinatal mental health services under the Crisafulli Government's statewide expansion. Two additional beds have already been delivered at Catherine's House in Brisbane, while procurement and planning are underway for eight b eds in Townsville, four in Logan and four in Ipswich. In Cairns, detailed planning by the Hospital and Health Service has determined a perinatal acute Mental Health Hospital in the Home model is the preferred approach to deliver the four additional beds, allowing mothers to receive acute specialist mental health care in their own homes while remaining with their babies and families. These additional services will complement existing Mother and Baby Units at Mater South Brisbane and Gold Coast University Hospital, creating a stronger statewide network of specialist perinatal mental health care and making it easier for Queensland families to get the support they need closer to home. Minister for Health and Ambulance Services Tim Nicholls said the new $27 million Mother and Baby Unit was about looking after mums, babies and families when they need it most, ensuring mothers can get the specialist care they need while staying close to their babies. "Labor promised Queenslanders 30 beds without the full and appropriate funding needed to deliver them, then the Leader of the Opposition and Member for Miller ran a baseless scare campaign they were forced to apologise for in Parliament," Minister Nicholls said. "After Labor's decade of decline and ineffective management of the Mental Health Levy exposed by the Queensland Audit Office, we are getting on with ensuring these funds go where Queenslanders rightly expect them to – delivering better mental health services and care." Member for Nicklin Marty Hunt said the new Mother and Baby Unit would help local families stay close to the people who matter most during an incredibly difficult time. "Keeping mums and babies close to partners, children, grandparents and their support networks while they receive specialist care can make an enormous difference," Mr Hunt said.
