Psychological Access Plus

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Psychological Access Plus

Mental health support when you need it

Psychological Access+ is a program providing patients with assistance for short-term psychological interventions, and is funded by the Northern Sydney Primary Health Network.

Operating in Northern Sydney, the service is primarily for people who have difficulty accessing appropriate mental health (including psychology) support due to financial or other circumstances.

A range of services are available for people with mental illness, drug and alcohol issues or who are at risk of suicide or self-harm.

Psychological Access+ mental health professionals include psychologists, mental health nurses, occupational therapists and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers with specific mental health qualifications.

Important Information

For Clients

For Providers

Learn more about Access+

Who is eligible?

People eligible for Psychological Access+ services include:

People at risk of suicide, or having suicidal thoughts
People experiencing, or at risk of, homelessness
Children and young people
Women who are pregnant or have a child under 12 months of age and experiencing perinatal depression
People with intellectual disability and co-occurring mental illness
People with personality disorders
People at risk of, or experiencing, an eating disorder
People from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
LGBTQI+ people
People living in rural and remote communities

Services available

Access+ can provide support from mental health professionals including psychologists, social workers and mental health nurses. Our services can be provided in collaboration with your GP and/or other health care providers if required to ensure better health outcomes.

Psychological Access+ provides access to a range of services, including:

Telephone/video based counselling and guided self-help for people at risk of mental illness
Individual counselling provided by a mental health professional for people with mild to moderate mental illness
Suicide prevention.

How am I referred to Access+?

To use Access+ your GP will discuss your needs and, with your consent, provide your information to the triage team at Sydney North PHN. If Access+ is the best service option for you, the triage team shares this information with PCCS in order for us to organise your mental health support services.

Once you have been allocated support time through the Access+ program, a mental health professional will contact you to arrange your service. This generally occurs within 2 to 5 business days from when we receive a referral from Sydney North PHN triage team. The professional will discuss with you when you are available for a first appointment, and may ask you about your needs and current wellbeing. Please feel free to discuss with them your preferences in terms of how and when you receive supports and services.

How long is Access+ for?

The program is short-term, and intended to support people with mild to moderate mental health concerns. If you need longer-term supports you may be able to access other services through Sydney North PHN. If you and your GP think this may be required, your GP can call Sydney North PHN’s triage team to discuss your needs further.

How are these services delivered?

Access+ services can be provided through individual face-to-face counselling sessions, telephone, video-based counselling, or guided self-help depending on what you need and how you want to receive your services. How you receive your service might change depending on what’s happening for you. For example, if you are unable to travel to an appointment in person, you may be able to discuss having a telephone appointment that week instead.

Please feel free to discuss with your provider about what works best for your needs.

What are my responsibilities?

The Access+ program will require you to commit to attend all your appointments, and to provide at least 24 hours’ notice if you cannot attend an appointment. If you miss more than two (2) appointments or cancel with less than 24 hours’ notice, this service may not be appropriate for you and your mental health professional may refer you to your GP for alternative supports.

How do I provide feedback about my services and supports?

If you would like to provide feedback or make a complaint at any time, you can do this by providing feedback to any staff member or email quality@pccs.com.au.

If you would like to lodge a formal complaint you can contact the Quality Team on (02) 9477 8700, email details of your complaint to quality@pccs.com.au, or download and complete the Complaint form here and mail the completed form to Primary & Community Care Services, PO Box 173, Thornleigh NSW 2120.

How will your information be used?

Your GP will discuss your needs with you and, with your consent, provide your information to the Central Intake Hub.

The Central Intake Hub will share this information with Primary & Community Care Services (PCCS) who will organise your mental health support services.

A mental health professional from PCCS will contact you to arrange service provision and may seek your feedback about the service.

De-identified information may be used by the Sydney North Primary Health Network (SNPHN) and Primary & Community Care Services (PCCS) for reporting and evaluation purposes only.

Otherwise, your personal information will be stored in a secure database and kept confidential. It will not be released without your permission except where legally required, or if a person’s safety is at risk including yourself or others.

Information for Providers

Provider Resources

Brochure download

This service is supported by funding from Northern Sydney PHN through the Australian Government’s PHN Program.