Overview
The Emergency Mental Health Services provide assessment and short term treatment for people living in the community and respond to situations where someone maybe experiencing a level of mental distress.
Referrals are received via psychiatric triage 1300 657 259 and may be made by:
- a person seeking help for themselves or a relative
- Carers
- GP’s
- other designated mental health services
- Psychologists
- Private psychiatrists
- Other agencies or stakeholders concerned about the mental health of an individual
Services provided across south-west metro area of Melbourne include:
ACIS – Acute Community Intervention Services (formerly Catt) – Hoppers Crossing. Providing outreach services to the cities of Maribyrnong, Hobson’s Bay & Wyndham. The Acute Community Intervention Service (ACIS) is a team of multidisciplinary mental health professionals who provide assessment and intensive community treatment to people who are in a crisis or experiencing an acute phase of mental illness.
EMHS in Emergency Departments (formerly ECATT) – The mental health program has clinicians providing assessment for people presenting to emergency departments with a mental health concern at the Werribee Mercy Hospital and at Footscray Hospital.
WPACER – Westgate Police and Clinician Emergency Response is a service where a mental health clinician accompanies police in assessing people who may require mental health care and with whom police have contact, assisting them to access the appropriate mental health support.
Getting here
Find us at:
Clare Moore Building
300 Princes Highway
Werribee Victoria 3030
For more information on getting here, visit Werribee Mercy Psychiatric Unit or find out more about Werribee Mercy Hospital.
117-129 Warringa Crescent
Hoppers Crossing Victoria 3029
For more information on getting here, visit Wyndham Clinic .
Location details
This service covers the South-West metro region both at Werribee and Footscray hospitals and through community based interventions. Services are provided by telephone, outreach and presence in Emergency Departments.
How can people get access?
Access to Emergency Mental Health Services is via Mercy Mental Health triage 1300 657 259 or police
Opening hours
Phone (24hrs) psychiatric triage 1300657259
Your appointment
What to do before
If you have a scheduled appointment, that is most likely with the ACIS team (formerly known as CATT) and they will have specific instructions which you can get during your phone call with them. To call ACIS you phone the triage number 1300 657 259 and just let the clinician who answers the phone know that you have an appointment with ACIS and want to speak to a clinician.
What to bring
A list of your medicines and the regime (the dose prescribed) and when you take them.
The name/s of your treating doctors (ie: your GP or private psychiatrist etc) and the name and contact details for anyone else involved in your care (ie: your psychologist, your alcohol and other drugs worker)
What to expect on the day
The ACIS team may ask you to meet them at the emergency department and they would come and collect you from there, or they might ask you to wait in the Clare Moore Building reception area or even at the Wyndham Clinic, so just collect the relevant instructions from them before working out where to meet them. Most of the times they might come to your house.
More information
Team Composition
Multidisciplinary team includes:
- Psychiatric nurses
- Social workers
- Occupational therapist
- Psychologists
- Police
What questions should you ask
You may wish to clarify when your next visit from them is going to be (if there is going to be one) and where that will occur and when.
And you may wish to ask them about what to do in between visits (ie: when would be a good time to call the triage number?)
Discharge information
The appointment, whether it be with ACIS team , or a clinician in the Emergency Department or some other person from the service, may be short (a few minutes) or long (an hour or more) depending on the need during that time. You may be given an appointment card with the next appointment time on it. Or, they may not give you another appointment card so just ask what you should be doing next if it’s not immediately obvious at the time.
Additional support
If you are being referred to another service you should ensure that you have sufficient information about that at the time when it is being discussed.
Who to call if you have concerns afterwards
you can always call the 1300 657 259 triage number at any time, 24/7 for assistance.
For health professionals
Services provided across south-west metro area of Melbourne include:
ACIS – Acute Community Intervention Services (formerly Catt) – Hoppers Crossing. Providing services to the cities of Maribyrnong, Hobson’s Bay & Wyndham.
EMHS in Emergency Departments (formerly ECATT) – Werribee Mercy Hospital
EMHS in Emergency Departments (formerly ECATT) – Footscray Hospital
WPACER – Westgate Police and Clinician Emergency Response. WPACER offers an emergency response to situations where someone maybe experiencing a level of mental distress in the community.
Referral to all of these services is through the mental health triage:
Procedural information
Your first step is to ring 1300 657 259 and triage can guide you through the process.
Initially they may wish to triage the patient over the phone, so you may be asked to hand the phone to the patient if they are sitting in your office with you.
What/when you should refer to us
If you believe that someone is unwell, suffering a mental illness and at risk of deterioration if not treated then you should make a referral. Some of the things that may make you believe this is if the person is telling you that they are depressed, or they appear to be very tearful and withdrawn for a long period (weeks or months), or perhaps they are appearing to be quite confused or not making sense. Perhaps they are overly fearful, worried or anxious and appear to be having extreme highs and lows that aren’t resolving on their own. Maybe the person is experiencing very odd thoughts that exist even when you have tried to ‘talk them out of it’ and they may have experienced dramatic changes in their sleeping and eating patterns which is now effecting their lives. Triage can go through all these things with you over the phone to help you determine if there is a need for a referral at this point.
What/when you should not refer to us
When the person is already linked in with another public mental health service, ask that other service to assist you and whether a referral to Mercy Mental Health is needed.
When the person lives in an area that is outside of our treatment boundaries. If they’re nearby we can see them but if they’re a long distance away then it will be more likely that another service closer to that area can help you more thoroughly.
Here http://www.health.vic.gov.au/mentalhealth/services/m.htm you can find a list of the suburbs and which services can help you/the patient in that area.
Additional contact details
Mental health triage: 1300 657 259 is the point of contact for referring to the service.
If the person is already receiving services from our program, you may need to contact Saltwater clinic on 9928 7400 or Wyndham Clinic on 8734 1550 during business hours. After hours you would still call triage.
Donate to the Mercy Health Foundation
The Mercy Health Foundation supports programs to improve the health and wellbeing of those in need. Your donation makes a difference in hospitals, nurseries, aged care homes, and the general community.
Providing feedback
We value feedback from the people we care for, including from your families, friends, carers, and our broader community. Find out how to register a concern, complaint or compliment, or make a suggestion for improvement at Mercy Health.
Work for Mercy Health
Midwife and nurse roles are available. Find out about life and work at Mercy Health and apply today!