Funding crisis for youth clinic

Octane Youth Health Centre doctor Cheryl Bollen and psychologist Linda Gow are ready for the free youth clinic's opening. Photo / Michael Cunningham

A free Whangarei youth health clinic celebrating two months of being open is concerned funds may run dry for its psychology service.

Octane youth health centre was opened on February 3 in a bid to stop young people in Whangarei from routinely waiting at emergency departments to see a doctor.

So far more than 50 people aged between 12 and 18 have used the multi-faceted service, which includes a doctor, psychologist and social worker to assist clients with physical, mental and sexual concerns.

"We are very happy with the spread of what they are coming in with - a third for mental health concerns, a third physical and third sexual," said the centre's doctor, Cheryl Bollen.

"We're averting kids going into crisis. But I'm saddened by the depth of tragedy in some young people's lives," she said.

Dr Bollen said treatment for drug and alcohol problems, sexual health concerns and mental health issues is crucial for young people in Northland. Ministry of Justice figures from June 2012 to June 2013 show 34 people in Northland took their life, compared with 26 in 2012.

However, funding for the clinical psychologist Linda Gow is running out.

Dr Bollen, the centre's nurse Lynda Matthews, and reception staff are funded by Northland District Health Board. The centre's social worker Te Ami Henare-Toka is funded by Manaia PHO.

Dr Gow, however, is not funded by the DHB and has relied on a $5000 grant received from the ANZ Staff Foundation at the start of this year.

Some of Dr Gow's clients are funded by primary health or ACC "but there's a bunch of patients that do not fall in these groups", she said.

DHB funding for psychological care is directed toward secondary care which deals with more severe mental illness, Dr Gow said.

"A lot of the young people that come in to Octane don't want to go into mental health care. We are more of a preventative service," she said.

The centre is appealing for donations of counselling sessions to at-risk Whangarei youth. Sessions cost $75 each.

The fundraising account is WOW Charitable Trust - Octane - 38-9014-0553723-00.