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