The health care group is one of six hospital and health service sites statewide to receive funding as part of the state government’s Hospital Outreach Post-suicidal Engagement program.

Bendigo Health psychiatric services executive director, Associate Professor Phil Tune said people were often at their most vulnerable in the week after they were discharged from inpatient services.

“This funding won’t allow us to do work we don’t already do,” he said.

“It will help us do our job more effectively by having more resources to do it.”

Dr Tune was hopeful the funding would enable staff to check in with former inpatients within 48 hours of discharge and to provide assistance if needed.

He said Bendigo Health was seeking to fill about a half-dozen full-time roles as soon as possible.

Experienced nursing staff, occupational therapists, psychiatrists and social workers could be considered for the positions.

“We are always actively recruiting, including internationally,” Dr Tune said.

He said a great deal of the hospital’s patient group had suicidal thoughts.

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As the Bendigo Advertiser reported last month, Bendigo Health is typical of most tertiary mental health services in that it sees about 1.1 per cent of the population.

Crisis presentations and people with uncommon and serious conditions comprise the core patient cohort for the health care group’s psychiatric services.

The majority of mental health consultations within the community are handled by GPs and other organisations within the sector.

Mental Health Minister Martin Foley said the HOPE program had already helped hundreds of Victorians.

He said the team at The Alfred hospital in Melbourne, which was the first to pilot the initiative, had assisted 123 people since June 2017.

The HOPE program is also in operation at Peninsula Health, St Vincent’s Hospital, Barwon Health, Eastern Health, and Albury Wodonga Health. 

Today’s announcement will see the program expanded to Bendigo Health, Casey Hospital, Latrobe Regional Hospital, Sunshine Hospital, Ballarat Health Service (including Horsham), and Werribee Mercy Hospital.

The six new sites were selected based on suicide and intentional self-injury data, population demographics and community profiles.

A total of $18.7 million was included in the Victorian Budget 2018/19 to expand the HOPE program.

If you or someone you know needs urgent support, talk to someone you trust or contact a crisis support service such as beyondblue (1300 22 46 36) or Lifeline (13 11 14).

In an emergency, call 000.