The fall and rise of the South Australian telepsychiatry network

The Rural and Remote Mental Health Service (RRMHS) has delivered telepsychiatry services through the use of videoconferencing to South Australian communities since May 1994. The survivability of the service results from a combination of factors that have seen the RRMHS expand to 48 centres and deliver an average of 100 clinical sessions a month. The key factors responsible for the success of the service lie in the model of service delivery, management support, and the implementation of a system for the scheduling and reporting of videoconference activity. The current model of service delivery has evolved over the past seven years and is fundamentally different to the infrastructure established at the implementation stage of the project. A retrospective analysis shows the shift in service delivery models necessary for the sustainability of telepsychiatry services in South Australia.