Kate Wall says she regularly hears from people who have been sent home from the hospital who feel like they have "nowhere to go" if they are having a mental health emergency.

"I realise it's a complex issue ... But you shouldn't have to chase any health care, no matter where you live," she said.

Ms Wall, who co-coordinates the Wagga peer support group 'Walk 'N' Talk For Life', said it was distressing for patients who had to make multiple presentations to the hospital.

Of the 1590 presentations made to the hospital's emergency department for mental health between June 2019 and June 2020, 1561 people were assessed by the Murrumbidgee's Mental Health Emergency Consultation Service (MHECS) and 400 were admitted as acute inpatients.

Murrumbidgee Local Health District director mental health drug and alcohol Robyn Manzie said people are admitted to the hospital's acute mental health unit only as a last resort, in adherence to the Mental Health Act.

She urged anyone with concerns about their experience with MHECS or other aspects of Wagga's mental health care to contact the MLHD.

But Ms Wall says presenting to hospital can feel like the last resort for people who have already tried to get help in the community.

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"The whole system is flawed, not only for us as the consumer but for them as the providers," she said.

Wagga Base provides the only acute mental health inpatient services in the Murrumbidgee, which according to health department figures is home to the highest rates of adult psychological distress in NSW.

Henty man Richard Hendrie, 31, was so disappointed by his recent experience with MHECS and the hospital he lodged a formal complaint, which has been referred to the Healthcare Complaints Commission.

Mr Hendrie and his mother Susan Maher, a 77-year-old former registered nurse who sits on Henty's Local Hospital Advisory Committee, are calling for an overhaul of Wagga Base's mental health triage after presenting to its emergency department on July 14.

Mrs Maher brought her son to Wagga Base in an "acute state" of mental illness.

She said her son was assessed by MHECS via a video conference consultation, during which she thought he was asked "ridiculous" questions that he was unable to answer as his condition had deteriorated to the point where he was "out of it" and "non-verbal".

"I wasn't capable of handling myself. In those situations I wouldn't even know what area I was in ... You don't know what's going on. You're incredibly vulnerable," Mr Hendrie said.

Mrs Maher said the assessment staff asked her to leave the room so they could talk to her son on his own.

"I left the room and I peered through the window. And he just sat there and, you know, no communication. That was it," she said.

She said MHECS informed them Mr Hendrie would not be admitted as he was from out of the area and better managed in the community, but she refused to take him home.

She said they were then left in an office for almost nine hours with Mr Hendrie "curled up in a ball on the floor" covered with a blanket she had to ask staff for, until he was eventually admitted, leaving his "very upset" mother to drive home alone.

"I want to make it better for everybody and I'm not just talking about our situation," Mrs Maher said.

Mr Hendrie and Ms Wall say they have joined a collaboration between health professionals and community members who are co-designing an alternative to the emergency department for people in crisis, a project which is being funded by the NSW government.

Wagga resident Danielle George said she attempted to take her own life in 2017 after leaving the hospital's emergency department without getting any resolution.

"Three times in my life I've been very deeply suicidal and I used the hospital as a last port of call. And two out of those three times I've been sent home," she said.

"I just wish there was some kind of [mental health] leadership role that was always with staff. So as soon as someone's presented there in need of mental health help, that someone [is there] straight away."

Ms George claims she was not seen by a psychiatrist until her work intervened and contacted the hospital.

Visiting medical officers provide almost all of the city's psychiatric care, so cancelled flights sometimes mean the hospital can go days with no psychiatrists physically present.

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One woman, who asked not to be named, claims she presented to the hospital twice in 2019 and found it very difficult to be seen by a psychiatrist even though she had attempted to take her own life.

"Both times I was taken through to a bed and treated for the physical injuries that I'd had. And they were trying to send me home both times," she said.

"One of the times I spoke to a psychiatrist on video link. And that was only after lots of advocating from my family ... but the other time I didn't see one at all."

Ms Manzie said a local psychiatrist recently completed his training at the hospital and intends to stay in Wagga, where he will be supported by up to 17 fly-in-fly-out doctors.

She said MHECS clinicians - who come from allied health backgrounds - were expected to consult with an on-call psychiatrist and did so for "pretty much" every emergency assessment.

Ms Wall said her own history with Wagga Base meant she could empathise with people who said they endured long wait times before being told to go home "because they won't be seen by MHECS until the next day", only to return and repeat the experience on multiple days in a row.

MHECS will refer those who aren't admitted to hospital to providers including general practitioners and the Community Mental Health Service, which saw 1753 clients between July 2019 and June 2020.

One woman who lives south of Wagga, who asked to remain anonymous, claims she presented to Wagga Base "about six times" in the past year without being successfully connected to external services.

"I went there for help. And begged them for help. And they said they'd get Community Mental Health to ring me within a few days and they never ever rang," she said of one presentation.

The service recently received some additional funding from the NSW government.

Ms Manzie said Wagga's community teams were bound to see referred clients in a time frame between 12 hours to two weeks, with clinicians responsible for a formal process of following up with patients who failed to attend a scheduled appointment.

If you need support or are struggling with mental illness, call 000 in an emergency.

Or please contact any of these crisis support helplines: