Presentations to Northern Health often involve a mental health, substance dependence, drug and alcohol (AoD) or clinical toxicology problem, and in many instances, a combination of any or all four.
The primary objective of the SPECTRE Unit is to provide a novel means of addressing this important area of healthcare that is complimentary to existing services at Northern Health.
What to expect from the service?
This is a 6-bed unit housed together with the hospital’s Psychiatric Emergency Care Centre (PECC), adjacent to the Emergency Department. Suitable patients can be admitted for observation, management of medical issues including but not limited to overdose, withdrawal and drug intoxication. Staffing of the unit includes ED physicians, clinical pharmacologists and toxicologists, AoD clinicians, social work and nursing staff. The unit will operate in close liaison with the PECC and the hospital’s wider Mental Health Service. The clear benefit of this initiative is a holistic model that takes advantage of combining the skills of multiple disciplines and moves away from the silo mentality of traditional medicine to provide care and a coordinated team response to a marginalised group of patients.