❓ Hon. Ravlich questions the Minister for Mental Health regarding the early discharge of a teenage patient, citing a news report. The Minister responds, disputing the claims and highlighting the patient's ongoing care and the complexity of the case.
AnsweredQoN 993Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
MENTAL
HEALTH — EARLY DISCHARGE OF PATIENTS
993. Hon LJILJANNA RAVLICH to the Minister for Mental
Health:
I refer to the front-page story in The West Australian of 20 November 2012 by Angela Pownall titled ''Teen's
mental health plea'', which states —
Alysha had attempted suicide twice
in September and was taken to the Bentley Adolescent Unit, WA's only
secure psychiatric unit for adolescents, as an involuntary patient.
But Ms Devereux said her daughter was
discharged the next day
(1) Can the
minister explain why seriously ill teenagers across the state are being
systematically discharged from hospitals before they have recovered?
(2) Why,
following discharge, do most have to then wait for over a month at least to see
a mental health specialist?
HEALTH — EARLY DISCHARGE OF PATIENTS
993. Hon LJILJANNA RAVLICH to the Minister for Mental
Health:
I refer to the front-page story in The West Australian of 20 November 2012 by Angela Pownall titled ''Teen's
mental health plea'', which states —
Alysha had attempted suicide twice
in September and was taken to the Bentley Adolescent Unit, WA's only
secure psychiatric unit for adolescents, as an involuntary patient.
But Ms Devereux said her daughter was
discharged the next day
(1) Can the
minister explain why seriously ill teenagers across the state are being
systematically discharged from hospitals before they have recovered?
(2) Why,
following discharge, do most have to then wait for over a month at least to see
a mental health specialist?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for the question.
(1)–(2)
The young lady in question did not wait for a month. She had services almost
immediately after the last discharge from hospital and was receiving
community-based services right through. In the week prior, I think she had an
appointment nearly every day, and on the day of the unfortunate circumstances,
she had an appointment that was cancelled prior to any other event on that day
by her mother, who had determined that the young lady was not feeling well
enough to attend the appointment on that day. A lot of issues around this case are not well known through the media. I
do not have the opportunity to provide that; in fact, I do not have the desire
to provide all the detail through the media. I understand from the points of
view of the opposition and the media that they can only work on the information
at hand, which is often not comprehensive and complete. I can honestly say that
this young lady had many, many admissions to different hospitals throughout the
state; never once was the reason for her leaving a hospital due to a lack of
beds or a lack of resources.
Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich : So why was she discharged?
Hon HELEN MORTON : Clinical judgements are made at the time
of discharge. There were times she was offered to stay as an inpatient at these
facilities, and that was rejected by her and her mother. I have probably gone a
little further than I would normally a bout any particular case. It is
very important to understand that people do not expect their personal and
private details to be made public, particularly around issues like this. The
only reason I have gone as far as I have today is that I felt it was necessary
to balance some of the information that has been provided in the media. Once
again, I do not have any means to provide the media with more comprehensive
information than has been provided. I understand why the media prints the stories
that it does and I understand why the opposition makes the claims that it does,
but I can honestly say there is a very comprehensive range of information that
sits behind that which is not understood in public.
(1)–(2)
The young lady in question did not wait for a month. She had services almost
immediately after the last discharge from hospital and was receiving
community-based services right through. In the week prior, I think she had an
appointment nearly every day, and on the day of the unfortunate circumstances,
she had an appointment that was cancelled prior to any other event on that day
by her mother, who had determined that the young lady was not feeling well
enough to attend the appointment on that day. A lot of issues around this case are not well known through the media. I
do not have the opportunity to provide that; in fact, I do not have the desire
to provide all the detail through the media. I understand from the points of
view of the opposition and the media that they can only work on the information
at hand, which is often not comprehensive and complete. I can honestly say that
this young lady had many, many admissions to different hospitals throughout the
state; never once was the reason for her leaving a hospital due to a lack of
beds or a lack of resources.
Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich : So why was she discharged?
Hon HELEN MORTON : Clinical judgements are made at the time
of discharge. There were times she was offered to stay as an inpatient at these
facilities, and that was rejected by her and her mother. I have probably gone a
little further than I would normally a bout any particular case. It is
very important to understand that people do not expect their personal and
private details to be made public, particularly around issues like this. The
only reason I have gone as far as I have today is that I felt it was necessary
to balance some of the information that has been provided in the media. Once
again, I do not have any means to provide the media with more comprehensive
information than has been provided. I understand why the media prints the stories
that it does and I understand why the opposition makes the claims that it does,
but I can honestly say there is a very comprehensive range of information that
sits behind that which is not understood in public.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.