Hundreds of mental health patients forced to find a new hospital

New South Wales is set to lose almost 70 mental health inpatient beds, with the shock closure of two private hospitals in Sydney.

Transcript

00:00 Shocked staff and patients gather at Wesley Mission in Coggera to say goodbye.

00:06 I was beside myself, cried the whole way home, cried going to sleep.

00:12 You know, it's just very difficult.

00:14 Shock, tears, absolute sorry.

00:18 I didn't realise how emotional I get.

00:21 Wesley Mission says it's closing two mental health hospitals in Sydney and selling the

00:26 land.

00:27 The new facility at Coggera has 30 beds and outpatient services for hundreds of patients.

00:33 At Ashfield, another 38 beds will go.

00:36 This is an enormous and irresponsible decision.

00:40 It will cost lives, potentially.

00:42 Wesley Mission says it tried to sell to another health provider but that was unable to proceed.

00:48 Both hospitals have been running at a loss for some time, with operations ceasing on

00:53 the 12th of April.

00:54 Patients have been told to follow their doctors to other clinics or find a new service.

01:00 It's the added stress of a whole new group, a whole new therapist that we need to deal

01:06 with.

01:07 When private beds go, the public system has a lot more pressure and you find people sitting

01:12 in emergency departments for not just hours but days.

01:16 Wesley Mission gets funding from the state government but not for these two hospitals.

01:21 The organisation says at no point did it approach the state government and ask for help to keep

01:27 them open.

01:28 Mental health minister Rose Jackson says the closures are deeply disappointing and losing

01:33 mental health beds is a step backwards.

01:35 [BLANK_AUDIO]