Hon. Sophia Moermond questions the Minister for Mental Health regarding the inclusion of AOD specialists in mental health emergency response teams and how these teams access AOD expertise during patient assessments. The Minister acknowledges varied approaches across health services.

AnsweredQoN 201Legislative Council
Asked
19 March 2024
Portfolio
Mental Health

QuestionView source ↗

MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES
201. Hon SOPHIA MOERMOND to the parliamentary secretary representing the
Minister for Mental Health:
I refer to the WA government's
mental health services.
(1) Do mental health emergency
response units or teams include alcohol and other drugs specialist workers?
(2) If not, how
do mental health emergency response units or teams gain access to expertise in
alcohol and drugs when undertaking assessments of mental health emergency
patients?

AnswerView source ↗

I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question. The following answer has been provided by the
Minister for Health.
(1)–(2) The
care provided for co-occurring mental health and alcohol and other drugs
presentations varies across health service
providers. Approaches include training mental health clinicians in undertaking
assessments , providing access to ED general nursing staff who specialise
in AOD or other AOD staff, and consulting with and referring to Next Step Drug
and Alcohol Services, community alcohol and drug service teams and
non-government AOD organisations.

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