❓ A parliamentary question seeks data on Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) in the South West region, including referrals, assessments, age breakdowns, wait times, and hospital admissions. The answer indicates difficulty in providing specific data due to resource constraints and patient confidentiality concerns.
AnsweredQoN 2794Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
I refer to the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS), and I ask -
(1) In relation to the South West region, how many children and adolescents were referred to CAMHS for mental health assessments in each of the following financial years, -
(a) 2008-09;
(b) 2009-10; and
(c) 2010 to date?
(2) For each of the referrals received by CAMHS and listed above in each financial year, -
(a) how many assessments were undertaken;
(b) how many were, -
(i) under the age of 12;
(ii) between the ages of 12 and 16 years; and
(iii) between the ages of 16 and 18 years;
(c) what was the average length of time between receipt of the referral and the date the assessment was undertaken; and
(d) how many adolescents under the age of 18 were admitted to Bunbury Hospital Psychiatric Ward?
(1) In relation to the South West region, how many children and adolescents were referred to CAMHS for mental health assessments in each of the following financial years, -
(a) 2008-09;
(b) 2009-10; and
(c) 2010 to date?
(2) For each of the referrals received by CAMHS and listed above in each financial year, -
(a) how many assessments were undertaken;
(b) how many were, -
(i) under the age of 12;
(ii) between the ages of 12 and 16 years; and
(iii) between the ages of 16 and 18 years;
(c) what was the average length of time between receipt of the referral and the date the assessment was undertaken; and
(d) how many adolescents under the age of 18 were admitted to Bunbury Hospital Psychiatric Ward?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
10 November 2010
Responded by
Parliamentary Secretary representing the Minister for Mental Health
Response time
50 days
· These referrals will not include all Triage events which may be received in the form of enquiries to the service via phone or "walk ins". · Figures include those children and adolescents that might have been referred on more than one occasion. (2) (a) All referrals received by the mental health service are screened according to the information provided by the referrer. Where it is considered that another service will provide a more appropriate intervention these are re-directed back to the referrer or to another agency. Accurate reporting of the number of referrals to South West CAMHS that received a comprehensive assessment will require manual extraction of the information directly from medical records. To undertake this at least one clinical staff member from each of the three WA Country Health Service (WACHS) - South West CAMHS sites will be diverted from clinical duties for a minimum of three days resulting in a direct impact on service delivery (conservatively the loss of 68.5 hours of clinical services). (b) Refer question (1) for age breakdown of referrals. Age breakdown of assessment for each referral will require the process outlined above. However, an age breakdown of admitted patients is possible. (c) See (2)(a). (d) Health information is considered identifiable when it either directly identifies an individual or has the potential to indirectly identify an individual based on a combination of identifiers or based on small cell sizes. A cell size is considered small if the result in a statistical table shows a value that is less than 5. For data to be considered non-identifiable there is no reasonable basis to believe that the information can be used to re-identify an individual patient when used in combination with other details held by the requestor or those who will view the information. The WA Country Health Service considers that patient confidentiality cannot be guaranteed with the release of this data. Notice: This document is created or edited using unregistered or evaluation copy of rtLib valid for testing or development purposes only. To use it for productive or any other purposes please register it. You may purchase the license on http://www.rtlib.com
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