Safewards at Geraldton Health Campus.
A new acute psychiatric unit that opened with Safewards as its standard model of care — and more than 35 trained champions ready from the first shift.
The challenge
WA Country Health Service (WACHS) was opening a new acute psychiatric unit at Geraldton Health Campus in the Midwest. Rather than introduce a model of care after the unit had settled into its own habits, leadership decided before opening that Safewards would be the standard model of care — so the staff group needed a shared approach to preventing conflict and containment before the first consumer was admitted.
Geraldton is the third WACHS campus to deploy Safewards across its mental health services.
What Xantha delivered
Xantha delivered the Safewards Champion Program in 2025/26, training more than 35 champions across five roles. Every champion completed the online Safewards In Practice masterclass, then a one-day Interventions Simulation Workshop: practising the Safewards interventions with simulated patients in scenarios built for an acute mental health setting.
Simulated patients were sourced and briefed locally, including Lachlan Adam from Theatre 8 Geraldton, who brought his own lived experience to the simulation.
The result
The unit opened with Safewards as part of its culture from day one, and with a trained champion group across five roles to model the interventions, coach colleagues and keep fidelity high as the unit grows.
As someone with lived experience, it gave me a chance to see the change that is trying to be made in the delivery of services. I was also made to feel like what I have been through hasn't been for nothing.
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