Lavender Mother and Baby Mental Health UnitMental Health
Useful Management Information
- The Lavender Mother and Baby Mental Health Unit is a statewide four-bed acute inpatient unit that admits Queensland women with a significant mental health problem that cannot be safely managed by community mental health services, and their babies who are not walking and are under 12 months old. The Unit admits both voluntary consumers and those under the Mental Health Act 2016.
- The Lavender Mother and Baby unit is led by a consultant psychiatrist who is supported by a multidisciplinary team of mental health nurses, occupational therapist, social worker, clinical psychologist, dietitian, physiotherapist, psychiatric registrars and infant mental health liaison.
- The baby will require a pre-admission health screen to ensure that the baby is well. This to be completed by the baby’s General Practitioner, or the local HSS Child Health Nurse or Paediatrician. There is no capacity to admit ill infants
- Referrals are prioritised according to the following criteria
- Acuity
- Babies under 6 weeks will be prioritised
- Breastfeeding status
- Availability of alternate outpatient management
- Additionally, the service is supported by Gold Coast Health’s Community Child Health Service and Paediatrics regarding the baby’s health, wellbeing and development.
- Women and their families need ongoing support if there is a wait time prior to admission. The following services have been identified as providing support and referral to community services (please note the list is not exclusive):
- Acute Care Treatment Team, contactable in your local area on 1300 642 225
- Emergency Department of your local hospital
- General practitioner can advise and refer under Mental Health Care Plan or Perinatal ATAPS to psychological services.
Clinician Resources
Alternative Support services:
- 1300 MH CALL (Mental Health Access Line) t: 1300 642 255
- Perinatal Anxiety and Depression Association (PANDA) t: 1300 726 306 w: www.panda.org.au
- Beyond Blue t: 1300 224 636 w: www.beyondblue.org.au
- Women’s Health Queensland t: 1800 017 676 w: www.womhealth.org.au
- Centre of Perinatal Excellence t: (03) 9376 6321 w: www.cope.org.au
Patient Resources
Are you referring to the right service?
- Women experiencing postpartum psychosis, relapse of schizophrenia or bipolar disorder in the postpartum, severe anxiety and/or depressive disorder or with complex mental health problems which may include a history of trauma, personality disorder and substance misuse that is impacting significantly on their parenting should be referred to this service.
- Lavender Mother and Baby Unit does not admit mothers for parenting issues in the absence of an acute mental health issue requiring hospitalisation
Essential Referral Information
- Mother and Baby’s demographic details
- Past medical history including birth and post-partum conditions
- Relevant mental health history including:
- Rationale for inpatient admission including onset, duration, triggers and current mental state
- Mental Health Act status eg. voluntary or involuntary
- Presence of any mental health risk factors eg. Harm to self
- Details of any other mental health teams currently involved in care
- Social history including:
- Living circumstances including risk of homelessness
- Is the mother a current inpatient at any facility?
- Is the mother the primary care giver for the baby?
- Was consent received for referral provided?
- Concerns regarding parent- child relationship
- Child safety involvement
- Baby’s history including:
- Immunisation status
- Feeding status
- Any concerns relating to physical or mental health of the baby
- History of or current nicotine and alcohol use including history of completion of detox or withdrawal treatment
- Medical clearance for mother and infant from any previously diagnosed infectious disease (if applicable)
All of the information requested above can be completed on the GCH Lavender Mother and Baby Mental Health Unit Referral Form.
If a specific test result is unable to be obtained due to access, financial, religious, cultural or consent reasons a Clinical Override may be requested. This reason must be clearly articulated in the body of the referral.
Additional Referral Information
- Is the father of the baby involved in the care?
- Father’s consent status for referral
- Father’s demographic details
- Details of any other children in the household
- Custody arrangements
- Presence of domestic violence orders
Reason for request
- To establish a diagnosis
- For treatment or intervention
- For advice and management
- For specialist to take over management
- Reassurance for GP/second opinion
- For a specified test/investigation the GP can't order, or the patient can't afford or access
- Reassurance for the patient/family
- For other reason (e.g. rapidly accelerating disease progression)
- Clinical judgement indicates a referral for specialist review is necessary
Relevant clinical information about the condition
- Presenting symptoms (evolution and duration)
- Physical findings
- Details of previous treatment (including systemic and topical medications prescribed) including the course and outcome of the treatment
- All conservative options that have been pursued unsuccessfully prior to referral
- Body mass index (BMI)
- Details of any associated medical conditions which may affect the condition or its treatment (e.g. diabetes), noting these must be stable and controlled prior to referral
- Any special care requirements where relevant (e.g tracheostomy in place, oxygen required)
- Current medications and dosages
- Drug allergies
- Alcohol, tobacco and other drugs use
Patient's Demographic Details
- Full name (including aliases)
- Date and country of birth
- Residential and postal address including whether patient resides at an aged care facility
- Telephone contact number/s – home, mobile and alternative
- Medicare number (where eligible)
- Name of the parent or caregiver (if appropriate)
- Name of delegate and contact details (Department of Corrective Services)
- Preferred language and interpreter requirements
- Identifies as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- Any special needs, access requirements and/or disability relevant to the referral
Referring Practitioner Details
- Full name
- Full address
- Contact details – telephone, fax, email
- Provider number
- Date of referral
- Signature
- Nominated general practitioner’s details (if known), if the nominated general practitioner is different from the referring practitioner
Other relevant information
- Willingness to have surgery (where surgery is a likely intervention)
- Choice to be treated as a public or private patient
- Compensable status (e.g. DVA, Work Cover, Motor Vehicle Insurance, etc.)
Out of Scope Services
Women who fall within the following categories:
- active substance abuse issues or at risk of withdrawal
- requesting admission for the sole purpose of assessing parenting capacity
- residing outside of Queensland
- where mental health concerns can be suitably managed by community services
- not primary caregivers for their baby
- homeless or at risk of homelessness
Out of Catchment
Gold Coast Health is responsible for providing public health services to the people who reside within its boundaries. Special consideration is made for patients requiring tertiary services or for services that are not provided by their local hospital and health service district. If your patient lives outside the Gold Coast Health catchment area and you wish to refer them to one of our services, please indicate relevant medical or social information that will assist with the processing of your referral.
Notes
Please note that where appropriate and where available, the referral may be streamed to an associated public allied health and/or nursing service. Access to some specific services may include initial assessment and management by associated allied health and/or nursing, which may either facilitate or negate the need to see the public medical specialist.
- A change in patient circumstance (such as condition deteriorating or becoming pregnant) may affect the urgency categorisation and should be communicated as soon as possible.
- Please indicate in the referral if the patient is unable to access mandatory tests or investigations as they incur a cost or are unavailable locally.
- If your patient consents to telehealth, please indicate in the body of the referral.
Patient Must Bring
- Medicare card
- Any concession cards (e.g. Pension, Health Care, DVA, PBS Safety Net, ADF, etc.)
- Current medication list
- Reading glasses, hearing and mobility aids
Send Referrals To
Smart Referrals
Not available
Secure Web Transfer
Not available
Internal Referrals
Fax
Post
Lavender Mother and Baby Unit
Gold Coast University Hospital
1 Hospital Boulevard
Southport QLD 4215
Enquiries
Service Availability
Facilities
If you would like to send a named referral, please address it to the specialist listed above, who will allocate a suitably qualified specialist to see the patient. Alternatively, you can view a full list of our specialists.