Western Victoria Primary Health Network’s (WVPHN) recently commissioned Step Thru Care services for mental health and alcohol and other drugs (AOD) support will officially commence from Saturday, 1 July.
WVPHN has appointed four partnership groups of highly experienced health and support agencies to deliver the new service model across our sub-regions of Ballarat Goldfields, Geelong Otway, Great South Coast and Wimmera Grampians.
With the introduction of the new service model, there will be a change in referral processes for people wishing to access support for low level to mild and severe mental health issues and/or alcohol and other drugs support needs.
The new integrated Step Thru Care service replaces the previously commissioned services for:
- Psychological Therapy Services (PTS) including General, Child (under 12) and Suicide Prevention
- Services and Treatment for Enduring and Persistent Mental Illness (STEPMI)
- Primary health AOD services including Brief Interventions
As such, referrals to Step Thru Care will no longer use ReferralPoint which will cease after 30 June, 2023. Instead, referrals for mental health and AOD services must be sent to the relevant Step Thru Care provider in your area. Information about the referral process for each sub-region as well as priority groups and eligibility for Step Thru Care services is available from our Step Thru Care page.
The start of Step Thru Care follows a three-month transition process whereby WVPHN has worked closely with both previous and new providers to ensure existing clients who choose to do so are warmly transferred to the new service providers.
The Step Thru Care model was developed in response to community needs and key mental health and AOD reform recommendations such as the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System. The design followed an extensive consultation and co-design process resulting in services that are more collaborative, informative, supportive and culturally appropriate and will better coordinate and promote recovery and personal wellbeing.
The services are delivered through a Regional Care Partnerships approach involving formal agreements among complementary health support agencies to ensure services to health care consumers are coordinated and delivered to meet the individual’s needs.