Unions representing mental health workers say they are now “extremely concerned” that the Southern Intermediate Care Centre will permanently shut at a time when demand for mental health services is surging.

The 15-bed centre, adjacent to Noarlunga Hospital, provided “step-down” care to mental health patients when discharged from hospital, as well as those who required short-term, intensive treatment to avoid hospital admission.

In a January email seen by InDaily to the centre’s staff, Southern Adelaide Local Health Network (SALHN) mental health services clinical director Dr Michael Nance stated the centre would temporarily close for 12 months.

“It is intended that in the first instance, the Southern Intermediate Care Centre (SICC) will be suspended for a period of 12 months, however subject to further review,” he wrote.

“I confirm that this temporary move will take effect from Saturday 5 February 2022.”

At the time, a SALHN spokesperson told reporters that the closure was prompted by a decision to redeploy staff to “essential areas” impacted by the COVID pandemic.

Ten months later, staff say they are yet to be told when or if the centre will reopen.

This clearly puts additional strain on the health system

Public Service Association SA general secretary Natasha Brown told InDaily that if the SICC permanently shuts, there wouldn’t be any dedicated community mental health service of its kind left in Adelaide’s south.

She warned of the potential loss of a “large number of skilled staff”, who might choose to go elsewhere to find employment in their specialised field.

“They (staff) are becoming increasingly sceptical that SALHN management will reopen an ICC in the south,” she said.

“The community, and our members working in mental health, are being left up in the air as no decision has been forthcoming from the government.”

Brown said staff had told the union that anecdotally, there had been an increase in admissions to both the Flinders Medical Centre and Noarlunga Hospital emergency departments since the SICC was closed.

She said community mental health teams were also caring for additional clients who would have otherwise met the criteria to be admitted to the SICC.

“This clearly puts additional strain on the health system,” she said.

Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation SA CEO Elizabeth Dabars also expressed concern, saying the state needed “more mental health beds and not less”.

She said her union understood that the centre’s former staff were being absorbed into vacancies in other SALHN mental health facilities, but many of those workers lived south of Noarlunga and a transfer closer to Adelaide could prove challenging.

“I think we are all aware of the evidence that suggests mental health issues have spiked since the pandemic and this has put a real strain on related services,” she said.

“We recognise the state government has committed almost $300 million for an extra 100 mental health inpatient beds and other vital services for the sector, but if it shuts down a service like this one it means we are starting from a negative base.”

While in opposition, Health Minister Chris Picton described the former Marshall Government’s decision to close the SICC as “absolutely outrageous”.

Last week, Picton denied that the former Marshall Government had temporarily closed the centre, accusing it of permanently shutting the site two months before the March state election.

“It is a fallacy to say it was ‘temporarily closed’ – it was completely and totally closed by the former government,” he told InDaily.

“Too right I was critical – because they totally closed this building, particularly as we were facing surging mental health demand.

“As the Opposition spokesperson, I went there on its last day and saw it with my own eyes – the site was dismantled, IT had been pulled out and staff were told to take everything.”

Picton said the site had undergone “extensive” plumbing renovations because of burst pipes.

He said he had asked SALHN’s governing board to resume providing health services in the building as soon as possible, but he didn’t confirm whether the SICC would return to the building.

“The local health network is still considering the future uses and model of care of the site with updates to be provided,” he said.

Opposition mental health spokesperson Tim Whetstone accused Picton of “using the blame game”, saying the former Marshall Government made it clear that the centre’s closure would only be temporary.

“Chris Picton is delusional if he thinks the centre was permanently closed,” he said.

“It’s taken more than seven months for Labor to look at re-opening the facility to support patients.

“In the meantime, Labor has allowed our hospitals to teeter on the brink of meltdown due to overcrowding.”

Picton said the government had budgeted for a new 24-bed mental health rehabilitation ward at Noarlunga Hospital as part of a $294 million “generational investment in mental health”.

Dabars welcomed the investment, but said the new beds weren’t set to be introduced until 2025, leaving “a gap in services for Adelaide’s south”.