❓ QoN addresses mental health service overcrowding and funding in WA. Minister acknowledges the issue, cites positive spending and service statistics, and expresses support for early intervention and community care while defending reallocation of resources.
AnsweredQoN 1154Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
Given the answer to a previous question regarding the clinical outcomes the minister seeks in mental health, I refer to statements made by the Health Department’s mental health director, Dr Aaron Groves, that mental health beds in our emergency departments are massively overcrowded. He said - . . . there were about 50 people in mental health hospital beds who did not have to be there, but there were not adequate services for them to be in the community. Given the previous answer and the cuts to non-core services, will the minister outline the additional clinical mental health services that may be provided as a result of those cuts - that is, services resulting from funding to clinical outcomes? Mr J.A. McGINTY
AnswerView source ↗
By way of answering this question, I refer the House to the most recent report on national mental health outlining state mental health service provision throughout Australia. I refer to the “National Mental Health Report” of 2002. In terms of how Western Australia sits in relation to all other jurisdictions around Australia, it states the following - Rapid growth in new State spending has slowed but remains significant under Second National Mental Health Plan. Continued as top ranking jurisdiction in overall per capita spending. In other words, we spend more per capita on mental health in Western Australia than is spent anywhere else in the country. The report further reads - 172% increase in expenditure on community based services since 1992-93; 410 additional clinical staff employed in ambulatory care settings. Top ranking jurisdiction in relative size of ambulatory care clinical workforce. Stand alone psychiatric beds - Mr P.D. Omodei: This was done under the previous Government. Mr J.A. McGINTY: This is the situation here in Western Australia. I will not detract from the good work done in the time that members opposite were in government. Mr M.F. Board: But you have to keep moving and going, minister. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Sure. The report also states - Stand alone psychiatric beds reduced in number by 74% replaced by new general hospital units. Overall inpatient bed capacity decreased by 9% primarily in the non acute sector. Available inpatient beds 12% greater than the national average but the State has significantly fewer community based residential beds. Overall bed numbers are 6% less than national average. Expansion of general hospital and community based services achieved mainly through a combination of new State funds and savings from reductions in stand alone hospitals. The report continues, but members get the picture. It is true to say that Western Australia in the last decade has put a big effort into mental health. For those who say we lag behind national standards, the various benchmarks applied to mental health indicate that in some areas we could do a lot better, and in other areas, as I have just indicated in quoting from a 2002 report relating to the position up to about 2001, Western Australia occupies a positive position. I am not trying to score any cheap political points here. Efforts made by various Governments over time have contributed over the last decade to an improvement in the provision of mental health services in Western Australia; however, we still have a long way to go. To answer the question from the member for Murdoch, I want to see a lot more effort put into services that really count; that is, into the psychiatric emergency team and into services that will deliver effective end results for people with mental health problems in this community. Mr M.F. Board: Everybody throughout all the States agrees that intervention and prevention, particularly during depression, and particularly with young people, is where the main game is. If we cut programs that intervene in those areas, we will end up with more people trying to occupy mental health beds in hospitals. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: It’s preventive. Mr M.F. Board: It is preventive. The minister knows that an end result can never be shown on day one of a preventive program. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I agree with that in terms of early intervention and preventive programs, and programs that have the objective of caring for people in the community with a mental illness will have my strong support. That is different from saying that those things that do not provide any clinical or nursing support or any immediate services to the mentally unwell should be continued, because, frankly, we need to reorient our spending priorities. I will give the House one example. I have already mentioned the problem at Derbarl Yerrigan, and we are all familiar with that. Some criticism has been made of the family early intervention program run from the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. I have mentioned in this place previously that the number of occasions of service - in other words, the number of people using the service - has fallen dramatically in recent years. In 1999 there were 4 570 occasions of service. In the last financial year, 2002-03, there were 1 907 occasions of service. There has been a dramatic fall off. Consequently, the eight staff employed there spend between only 10 and 28 per cent of their time face to face with clients. That is the direct consequence of that fall off, because the staffing has remained, even though the number of occasions of service has fallen dramatically. Among the eight staff, only a small proportion of their time is spent dealing with their clients face to face. Mr M.F. Board: I would have to find a reason for that. Mr J.A. McGINTY: It is because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Mr M.F. Board: Yes, but why? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that what we are doing is eminently sensible in the light of the fall off in the patronage of this service; that is, we are amalgamating it and transferring the staff into two existing mental health programs for young and adolescent people - the consultation liaison service and the family pathways program - so that all those people who previously accessed that service through the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children will continue to be provided with that service. All that does is recognise that the staff there have minimal face-to-face contact with their clients because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Therefore, we have taken action to maintain the service to make sure it is still provided to those young children between the ages of nought to five and that it is still available so that we have that early intervention in an efficient and productive way, rather than simply doing something because historically it was always done.
. . . there were about 50 people in mental health hospital beds who did not have to be there, but there were not adequate services for them to be in the community. Given the previous answer and the cuts to non-core services, will the minister outline the additional clinical mental health services that may be provided as a result of those cuts - that is, services resulting from funding to clinical outcomes? Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: By way of answering this question, I refer the House to the most recent report on national mental health outlining state mental health service provision throughout Australia. I refer to the “National Mental Health Report” of 2002. In terms of how Western Australia sits in relation to all other jurisdictions around Australia, it states the following - Rapid growth in new State spending has slowed but remains significant under Second National Mental Health Plan. Continued as top ranking jurisdiction in overall per capita spending. In other words, we spend more per capita on mental health in Western Australia than is spent anywhere else in the country. The report further reads - 172% increase in expenditure on community based services since 1992-93; 410 additional clinical staff employed in ambulatory care settings. Top ranking jurisdiction in relative size of ambulatory care clinical workforce. Stand alone psychiatric beds - Mr P.D. Omodei: This was done under the previous Government. Mr J.A. McGINTY: This is the situation here in Western Australia. I will not detract from the good work done in the time that members opposite were in government. Mr M.F. Board: But you have to keep moving and going, minister. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Sure. The report also states - Stand alone psychiatric beds reduced in number by 74% replaced by new general hospital units. Overall inpatient bed capacity decreased by 9% primarily in the non acute sector. Available inpatient beds 12% greater than the national average but the State has significantly fewer community based residential beds. Overall bed numbers are 6% less than national average. Expansion of general hospital and community based services achieved mainly through a combination of new State funds and savings from reductions in stand alone hospitals. The report continues, but members get the picture. It is true to say that Western Australia in the last decade has put a big effort into mental health. For those who say we lag behind national standards, the various benchmarks applied to mental health indicate that in some areas we could do a lot better, and in other areas, as I have just indicated in quoting from a 2002 report relating to the position up to about 2001, Western Australia occupies a positive position. I am not trying to score any cheap political points here. Efforts made by various Governments over time have contributed over the last decade to an improvement in the provision of mental health services in Western Australia; however, we still have a long way to go. To answer the question from the member for Murdoch, I want to see a lot more effort put into services that really count; that is, into the psychiatric emergency team and into services that will deliver effective end results for people with mental health problems in this community. Mr M.F. Board: Everybody throughout all the States agrees that intervention and prevention, particularly during depression, and particularly with young people, is where the main game is. If we cut programs that intervene in those areas, we will end up with more people trying to occupy mental health beds in hospitals. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: It’s preventive. Mr M.F. Board: It is preventive. The minister knows that an end result can never be shown on day one of a preventive program. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I agree with that in terms of early intervention and preventive programs, and programs that have the objective of caring for people in the community with a mental illness will have my strong support. That is different from saying that those things that do not provide any clinical or nursing support or any immediate services to the mentally unwell should be continued, because, frankly, we need to reorient our spending priorities. I will give the House one example. I have already mentioned the problem at Derbarl Yerrigan, and we are all familiar with that. Some criticism has been made of the family early intervention program run from the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. I have mentioned in this place previously that the number of occasions of service - in other words, the number of people using the service - has fallen dramatically in recent years. In 1999 there were 4 570 occasions of service. In the last financial year, 2002-03, there were 1 907 occasions of service. There has been a dramatic fall off. Consequently, the eight staff employed there spend between only 10 and 28 per cent of their time face to face with clients. That is the direct consequence of that fall off, because the staffing has remained, even though the number of occasions of service has fallen dramatically. Among the eight staff, only a small proportion of their time is spent dealing with their clients face to face. Mr M.F. Board: I would have to find a reason for that. Mr J.A. McGINTY: It is because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Mr M.F. Board: Yes, but why? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that what we are doing is eminently sensible in the light of the fall off in the patronage of this service; that is, we are amalgamating it and transferring the staff into two existing mental health programs for young and adolescent people - the consultation liaison service and the family pathways program - so that all those people who previously accessed that service through the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children will continue to be provided with that service. All that does is recognise that the staff there have minimal face-to-face contact with their clients because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Therefore, we have taken action to maintain the service to make sure it is still provided to those young children between the ages of nought to five and that it is still available so that we have that early intervention in an efficient and productive way, rather than simply doing something because historically it was always done.
Given the previous answer and the cuts to non-core services, will the minister outline the additional clinical mental health services that may be provided as a result of those cuts - that is, services resulting from funding to clinical outcomes? Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: By way of answering this question, I refer the House to the most recent report on national mental health outlining state mental health service provision throughout Australia. I refer to the “National Mental Health Report” of 2002. In terms of how Western Australia sits in relation to all other jurisdictions around Australia, it states the following - Rapid growth in new State spending has slowed but remains significant under Second National Mental Health Plan. Continued as top ranking jurisdiction in overall per capita spending. In other words, we spend more per capita on mental health in Western Australia than is spent anywhere else in the country. The report further reads - 172% increase in expenditure on community based services since 1992-93; 410 additional clinical staff employed in ambulatory care settings. Top ranking jurisdiction in relative size of ambulatory care clinical workforce. Stand alone psychiatric beds - Mr P.D. Omodei: This was done under the previous Government. Mr J.A. McGINTY: This is the situation here in Western Australia. I will not detract from the good work done in the time that members opposite were in government. Mr M.F. Board: But you have to keep moving and going, minister. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Sure. The report also states - Stand alone psychiatric beds reduced in number by 74% replaced by new general hospital units. Overall inpatient bed capacity decreased by 9% primarily in the non acute sector. Available inpatient beds 12% greater than the national average but the State has significantly fewer community based residential beds. Overall bed numbers are 6% less than national average. Expansion of general hospital and community based services achieved mainly through a combination of new State funds and savings from reductions in stand alone hospitals. The report continues, but members get the picture. It is true to say that Western Australia in the last decade has put a big effort into mental health. For those who say we lag behind national standards, the various benchmarks applied to mental health indicate that in some areas we could do a lot better, and in other areas, as I have just indicated in quoting from a 2002 report relating to the position up to about 2001, Western Australia occupies a positive position. I am not trying to score any cheap political points here. Efforts made by various Governments over time have contributed over the last decade to an improvement in the provision of mental health services in Western Australia; however, we still have a long way to go. To answer the question from the member for Murdoch, I want to see a lot more effort put into services that really count; that is, into the psychiatric emergency team and into services that will deliver effective end results for people with mental health problems in this community. Mr M.F. Board: Everybody throughout all the States agrees that intervention and prevention, particularly during depression, and particularly with young people, is where the main game is. If we cut programs that intervene in those areas, we will end up with more people trying to occupy mental health beds in hospitals. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: It’s preventive. Mr M.F. Board: It is preventive. The minister knows that an end result can never be shown on day one of a preventive program. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I agree with that in terms of early intervention and preventive programs, and programs that have the objective of caring for people in the community with a mental illness will have my strong support. That is different from saying that those things that do not provide any clinical or nursing support or any immediate services to the mentally unwell should be continued, because, frankly, we need to reorient our spending priorities. I will give the House one example. I have already mentioned the problem at Derbarl Yerrigan, and we are all familiar with that. Some criticism has been made of the family early intervention program run from the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. I have mentioned in this place previously that the number of occasions of service - in other words, the number of people using the service - has fallen dramatically in recent years. In 1999 there were 4 570 occasions of service. In the last financial year, 2002-03, there were 1 907 occasions of service. There has been a dramatic fall off. Consequently, the eight staff employed there spend between only 10 and 28 per cent of their time face to face with clients. That is the direct consequence of that fall off, because the staffing has remained, even though the number of occasions of service has fallen dramatically. Among the eight staff, only a small proportion of their time is spent dealing with their clients face to face. Mr M.F. Board: I would have to find a reason for that. Mr J.A. McGINTY: It is because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Mr M.F. Board: Yes, but why? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that what we are doing is eminently sensible in the light of the fall off in the patronage of this service; that is, we are amalgamating it and transferring the staff into two existing mental health programs for young and adolescent people - the consultation liaison service and the family pathways program - so that all those people who previously accessed that service through the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children will continue to be provided with that service. All that does is recognise that the staff there have minimal face-to-face contact with their clients because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Therefore, we have taken action to maintain the service to make sure it is still provided to those young children between the ages of nought to five and that it is still available so that we have that early intervention in an efficient and productive way, rather than simply doing something because historically it was always done.
Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: By way of answering this question, I refer the House to the most recent report on national mental health outlining state mental health service provision throughout Australia. I refer to the “National Mental Health Report” of 2002. In terms of how Western Australia sits in relation to all other jurisdictions around Australia, it states the following - Rapid growth in new State spending has slowed but remains significant under Second National Mental Health Plan. Continued as top ranking jurisdiction in overall per capita spending. In other words, we spend more per capita on mental health in Western Australia than is spent anywhere else in the country. The report further reads - 172% increase in expenditure on community based services since 1992-93; 410 additional clinical staff employed in ambulatory care settings. Top ranking jurisdiction in relative size of ambulatory care clinical workforce. Stand alone psychiatric beds - Mr P.D. Omodei: This was done under the previous Government. Mr J.A. McGINTY: This is the situation here in Western Australia. I will not detract from the good work done in the time that members opposite were in government. Mr M.F. Board: But you have to keep moving and going, minister. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Sure. The report also states - Stand alone psychiatric beds reduced in number by 74% replaced by new general hospital units. Overall inpatient bed capacity decreased by 9% primarily in the non acute sector. Available inpatient beds 12% greater than the national average but the State has significantly fewer community based residential beds. Overall bed numbers are 6% less than national average. Expansion of general hospital and community based services achieved mainly through a combination of new State funds and savings from reductions in stand alone hospitals. The report continues, but members get the picture. It is true to say that Western Australia in the last decade has put a big effort into mental health. For those who say we lag behind national standards, the various benchmarks applied to mental health indicate that in some areas we could do a lot better, and in other areas, as I have just indicated in quoting from a 2002 report relating to the position up to about 2001, Western Australia occupies a positive position. I am not trying to score any cheap political points here. Efforts made by various Governments over time have contributed over the last decade to an improvement in the provision of mental health services in Western Australia; however, we still have a long way to go. To answer the question from the member for Murdoch, I want to see a lot more effort put into services that really count; that is, into the psychiatric emergency team and into services that will deliver effective end results for people with mental health problems in this community. Mr M.F. Board: Everybody throughout all the States agrees that intervention and prevention, particularly during depression, and particularly with young people, is where the main game is. If we cut programs that intervene in those areas, we will end up with more people trying to occupy mental health beds in hospitals. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: It’s preventive. Mr M.F. Board: It is preventive. The minister knows that an end result can never be shown on day one of a preventive program. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I agree with that in terms of early intervention and preventive programs, and programs that have the objective of caring for people in the community with a mental illness will have my strong support. That is different from saying that those things that do not provide any clinical or nursing support or any immediate services to the mentally unwell should be continued, because, frankly, we need to reorient our spending priorities. I will give the House one example. I have already mentioned the problem at Derbarl Yerrigan, and we are all familiar with that. Some criticism has been made of the family early intervention program run from the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. I have mentioned in this place previously that the number of occasions of service - in other words, the number of people using the service - has fallen dramatically in recent years. In 1999 there were 4 570 occasions of service. In the last financial year, 2002-03, there were 1 907 occasions of service. There has been a dramatic fall off. Consequently, the eight staff employed there spend between only 10 and 28 per cent of their time face to face with clients. That is the direct consequence of that fall off, because the staffing has remained, even though the number of occasions of service has fallen dramatically. Among the eight staff, only a small proportion of their time is spent dealing with their clients face to face. Mr M.F. Board: I would have to find a reason for that. Mr J.A. McGINTY: It is because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Mr M.F. Board: Yes, but why? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that what we are doing is eminently sensible in the light of the fall off in the patronage of this service; that is, we are amalgamating it and transferring the staff into two existing mental health programs for young and adolescent people - the consultation liaison service and the family pathways program - so that all those people who previously accessed that service through the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children will continue to be provided with that service. All that does is recognise that the staff there have minimal face-to-face contact with their clients because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Therefore, we have taken action to maintain the service to make sure it is still provided to those young children between the ages of nought to five and that it is still available so that we have that early intervention in an efficient and productive way, rather than simply doing something because historically it was always done.
By way of answering this question, I refer the House to the most recent report on national mental health outlining state mental health service provision throughout Australia. I refer to the “National Mental Health Report” of 2002. In terms of how Western Australia sits in relation to all other jurisdictions around Australia, it states the following - Rapid growth in new State spending has slowed but remains significant under Second National Mental Health Plan. Continued as top ranking jurisdiction in overall per capita spending. In other words, we spend more per capita on mental health in Western Australia than is spent anywhere else in the country. The report further reads - 172% increase in expenditure on community based services since 1992-93; 410 additional clinical staff employed in ambulatory care settings. Top ranking jurisdiction in relative size of ambulatory care clinical workforce. Stand alone psychiatric beds - Mr P.D. Omodei: This was done under the previous Government. Mr J.A. McGINTY: This is the situation here in Western Australia. I will not detract from the good work done in the time that members opposite were in government. Mr M.F. Board: But you have to keep moving and going, minister. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Sure. The report also states - Stand alone psychiatric beds reduced in number by 74% replaced by new general hospital units. Overall inpatient bed capacity decreased by 9% primarily in the non acute sector. Available inpatient beds 12% greater than the national average but the State has significantly fewer community based residential beds. Overall bed numbers are 6% less than national average. Expansion of general hospital and community based services achieved mainly through a combination of new State funds and savings from reductions in stand alone hospitals. The report continues, but members get the picture. It is true to say that Western Australia in the last decade has put a big effort into mental health. For those who say we lag behind national standards, the various benchmarks applied to mental health indicate that in some areas we could do a lot better, and in other areas, as I have just indicated in quoting from a 2002 report relating to the position up to about 2001, Western Australia occupies a positive position. I am not trying to score any cheap political points here. Efforts made by various Governments over time have contributed over the last decade to an improvement in the provision of mental health services in Western Australia; however, we still have a long way to go. To answer the question from the member for Murdoch, I want to see a lot more effort put into services that really count; that is, into the psychiatric emergency team and into services that will deliver effective end results for people with mental health problems in this community. Mr M.F. Board: Everybody throughout all the States agrees that intervention and prevention, particularly during depression, and particularly with young people, is where the main game is. If we cut programs that intervene in those areas, we will end up with more people trying to occupy mental health beds in hospitals. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: It’s preventive. Mr M.F. Board: It is preventive. The minister knows that an end result can never be shown on day one of a preventive program. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I agree with that in terms of early intervention and preventive programs, and programs that have the objective of caring for people in the community with a mental illness will have my strong support. That is different from saying that those things that do not provide any clinical or nursing support or any immediate services to the mentally unwell should be continued, because, frankly, we need to reorient our spending priorities. I will give the House one example. I have already mentioned the problem at Derbarl Yerrigan, and we are all familiar with that. Some criticism has been made of the family early intervention program run from the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. I have mentioned in this place previously that the number of occasions of service - in other words, the number of people using the service - has fallen dramatically in recent years. In 1999 there were 4 570 occasions of service. In the last financial year, 2002-03, there were 1 907 occasions of service. There has been a dramatic fall off. Consequently, the eight staff employed there spend between only 10 and 28 per cent of their time face to face with clients. That is the direct consequence of that fall off, because the staffing has remained, even though the number of occasions of service has fallen dramatically. Among the eight staff, only a small proportion of their time is spent dealing with their clients face to face. Mr M.F. Board: I would have to find a reason for that. Mr J.A. McGINTY: It is because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Mr M.F. Board: Yes, but why? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that what we are doing is eminently sensible in the light of the fall off in the patronage of this service; that is, we are amalgamating it and transferring the staff into two existing mental health programs for young and adolescent people - the consultation liaison service and the family pathways program - so that all those people who previously accessed that service through the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children will continue to be provided with that service. All that does is recognise that the staff there have minimal face-to-face contact with their clients because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Therefore, we have taken action to maintain the service to make sure it is still provided to those young children between the ages of nought to five and that it is still available so that we have that early intervention in an efficient and productive way, rather than simply doing something because historically it was always done.
Rapid growth in new State spending has slowed but remains significant under Second National Mental Health Plan. Continued as top ranking jurisdiction in overall per capita spending. In other words, we spend more per capita on mental health in Western Australia than is spent anywhere else in the country. The report further reads - 172% increase in expenditure on community based services since 1992-93; 410 additional clinical staff employed in ambulatory care settings. Top ranking jurisdiction in relative size of ambulatory care clinical workforce. Stand alone psychiatric beds - Mr P.D. Omodei: This was done under the previous Government. Mr J.A. McGINTY: This is the situation here in Western Australia. I will not detract from the good work done in the time that members opposite were in government. Mr M.F. Board: But you have to keep moving and going, minister. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Sure. The report also states - Stand alone psychiatric beds reduced in number by 74% replaced by new general hospital units. Overall inpatient bed capacity decreased by 9% primarily in the non acute sector. Available inpatient beds 12% greater than the national average but the State has significantly fewer community based residential beds. Overall bed numbers are 6% less than national average. Expansion of general hospital and community based services achieved mainly through a combination of new State funds and savings from reductions in stand alone hospitals. The report continues, but members get the picture. It is true to say that Western Australia in the last decade has put a big effort into mental health. For those who say we lag behind national standards, the various benchmarks applied to mental health indicate that in some areas we could do a lot better, and in other areas, as I have just indicated in quoting from a 2002 report relating to the position up to about 2001, Western Australia occupies a positive position. I am not trying to score any cheap political points here. Efforts made by various Governments over time have contributed over the last decade to an improvement in the provision of mental health services in Western Australia; however, we still have a long way to go. To answer the question from the member for Murdoch, I want to see a lot more effort put into services that really count; that is, into the psychiatric emergency team and into services that will deliver effective end results for people with mental health problems in this community. Mr M.F. Board: Everybody throughout all the States agrees that intervention and prevention, particularly during depression, and particularly with young people, is where the main game is. If we cut programs that intervene in those areas, we will end up with more people trying to occupy mental health beds in hospitals. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: It’s preventive. Mr M.F. Board: It is preventive. The minister knows that an end result can never be shown on day one of a preventive program. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I agree with that in terms of early intervention and preventive programs, and programs that have the objective of caring for people in the community with a mental illness will have my strong support. That is different from saying that those things that do not provide any clinical or nursing support or any immediate services to the mentally unwell should be continued, because, frankly, we need to reorient our spending priorities. I will give the House one example. I have already mentioned the problem at Derbarl Yerrigan, and we are all familiar with that. Some criticism has been made of the family early intervention program run from the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. I have mentioned in this place previously that the number of occasions of service - in other words, the number of people using the service - has fallen dramatically in recent years. In 1999 there were 4 570 occasions of service. In the last financial year, 2002-03, there were 1 907 occasions of service. There has been a dramatic fall off. Consequently, the eight staff employed there spend between only 10 and 28 per cent of their time face to face with clients. That is the direct consequence of that fall off, because the staffing has remained, even though the number of occasions of service has fallen dramatically. Among the eight staff, only a small proportion of their time is spent dealing with their clients face to face. Mr M.F. Board: I would have to find a reason for that. Mr J.A. McGINTY: It is because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Mr M.F. Board: Yes, but why? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that what we are doing is eminently sensible in the light of the fall off in the patronage of this service; that is, we are amalgamating it and transferring the staff into two existing mental health programs for young and adolescent people - the consultation liaison service and the family pathways program - so that all those people who previously accessed that service through the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children will continue to be provided with that service. All that does is recognise that the staff there have minimal face-to-face contact with their clients because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Therefore, we have taken action to maintain the service to make sure it is still provided to those young children between the ages of nought to five and that it is still available so that we have that early intervention in an efficient and productive way, rather than simply doing something because historically it was always done.
Continued as top ranking jurisdiction in overall per capita spending. In other words, we spend more per capita on mental health in Western Australia than is spent anywhere else in the country. The report further reads - 172% increase in expenditure on community based services since 1992-93; 410 additional clinical staff employed in ambulatory care settings. Top ranking jurisdiction in relative size of ambulatory care clinical workforce. Stand alone psychiatric beds - Mr P.D. Omodei: This was done under the previous Government. Mr J.A. McGINTY: This is the situation here in Western Australia. I will not detract from the good work done in the time that members opposite were in government. Mr M.F. Board: But you have to keep moving and going, minister. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Sure. The report also states - Stand alone psychiatric beds reduced in number by 74% replaced by new general hospital units. Overall inpatient bed capacity decreased by 9% primarily in the non acute sector. Available inpatient beds 12% greater than the national average but the State has significantly fewer community based residential beds. Overall bed numbers are 6% less than national average. Expansion of general hospital and community based services achieved mainly through a combination of new State funds and savings from reductions in stand alone hospitals. The report continues, but members get the picture. It is true to say that Western Australia in the last decade has put a big effort into mental health. For those who say we lag behind national standards, the various benchmarks applied to mental health indicate that in some areas we could do a lot better, and in other areas, as I have just indicated in quoting from a 2002 report relating to the position up to about 2001, Western Australia occupies a positive position. I am not trying to score any cheap political points here. Efforts made by various Governments over time have contributed over the last decade to an improvement in the provision of mental health services in Western Australia; however, we still have a long way to go. To answer the question from the member for Murdoch, I want to see a lot more effort put into services that really count; that is, into the psychiatric emergency team and into services that will deliver effective end results for people with mental health problems in this community. Mr M.F. Board: Everybody throughout all the States agrees that intervention and prevention, particularly during depression, and particularly with young people, is where the main game is. If we cut programs that intervene in those areas, we will end up with more people trying to occupy mental health beds in hospitals. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: It’s preventive. Mr M.F. Board: It is preventive. The minister knows that an end result can never be shown on day one of a preventive program. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I agree with that in terms of early intervention and preventive programs, and programs that have the objective of caring for people in the community with a mental illness will have my strong support. That is different from saying that those things that do not provide any clinical or nursing support or any immediate services to the mentally unwell should be continued, because, frankly, we need to reorient our spending priorities. I will give the House one example. I have already mentioned the problem at Derbarl Yerrigan, and we are all familiar with that. Some criticism has been made of the family early intervention program run from the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. I have mentioned in this place previously that the number of occasions of service - in other words, the number of people using the service - has fallen dramatically in recent years. In 1999 there were 4 570 occasions of service. In the last financial year, 2002-03, there were 1 907 occasions of service. There has been a dramatic fall off. Consequently, the eight staff employed there spend between only 10 and 28 per cent of their time face to face with clients. That is the direct consequence of that fall off, because the staffing has remained, even though the number of occasions of service has fallen dramatically. Among the eight staff, only a small proportion of their time is spent dealing with their clients face to face. Mr M.F. Board: I would have to find a reason for that. Mr J.A. McGINTY: It is because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Mr M.F. Board: Yes, but why? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that what we are doing is eminently sensible in the light of the fall off in the patronage of this service; that is, we are amalgamating it and transferring the staff into two existing mental health programs for young and adolescent people - the consultation liaison service and the family pathways program - so that all those people who previously accessed that service through the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children will continue to be provided with that service. All that does is recognise that the staff there have minimal face-to-face contact with their clients because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Therefore, we have taken action to maintain the service to make sure it is still provided to those young children between the ages of nought to five and that it is still available so that we have that early intervention in an efficient and productive way, rather than simply doing something because historically it was always done.
In other words, we spend more per capita on mental health in Western Australia than is spent anywhere else in the country. The report further reads - 172% increase in expenditure on community based services since 1992-93; 410 additional clinical staff employed in ambulatory care settings. Top ranking jurisdiction in relative size of ambulatory care clinical workforce. Stand alone psychiatric beds - Mr P.D. Omodei: This was done under the previous Government. Mr J.A. McGINTY: This is the situation here in Western Australia. I will not detract from the good work done in the time that members opposite were in government. Mr M.F. Board: But you have to keep moving and going, minister. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Sure. The report also states - Stand alone psychiatric beds reduced in number by 74% replaced by new general hospital units. Overall inpatient bed capacity decreased by 9% primarily in the non acute sector. Available inpatient beds 12% greater than the national average but the State has significantly fewer community based residential beds. Overall bed numbers are 6% less than national average. Expansion of general hospital and community based services achieved mainly through a combination of new State funds and savings from reductions in stand alone hospitals. The report continues, but members get the picture. It is true to say that Western Australia in the last decade has put a big effort into mental health. For those who say we lag behind national standards, the various benchmarks applied to mental health indicate that in some areas we could do a lot better, and in other areas, as I have just indicated in quoting from a 2002 report relating to the position up to about 2001, Western Australia occupies a positive position. I am not trying to score any cheap political points here. Efforts made by various Governments over time have contributed over the last decade to an improvement in the provision of mental health services in Western Australia; however, we still have a long way to go. To answer the question from the member for Murdoch, I want to see a lot more effort put into services that really count; that is, into the psychiatric emergency team and into services that will deliver effective end results for people with mental health problems in this community. Mr M.F. Board: Everybody throughout all the States agrees that intervention and prevention, particularly during depression, and particularly with young people, is where the main game is. If we cut programs that intervene in those areas, we will end up with more people trying to occupy mental health beds in hospitals. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: It’s preventive. Mr M.F. Board: It is preventive. The minister knows that an end result can never be shown on day one of a preventive program. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I agree with that in terms of early intervention and preventive programs, and programs that have the objective of caring for people in the community with a mental illness will have my strong support. That is different from saying that those things that do not provide any clinical or nursing support or any immediate services to the mentally unwell should be continued, because, frankly, we need to reorient our spending priorities. I will give the House one example. I have already mentioned the problem at Derbarl Yerrigan, and we are all familiar with that. Some criticism has been made of the family early intervention program run from the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. I have mentioned in this place previously that the number of occasions of service - in other words, the number of people using the service - has fallen dramatically in recent years. In 1999 there were 4 570 occasions of service. In the last financial year, 2002-03, there were 1 907 occasions of service. There has been a dramatic fall off. Consequently, the eight staff employed there spend between only 10 and 28 per cent of their time face to face with clients. That is the direct consequence of that fall off, because the staffing has remained, even though the number of occasions of service has fallen dramatically. Among the eight staff, only a small proportion of their time is spent dealing with their clients face to face. Mr M.F. Board: I would have to find a reason for that. Mr J.A. McGINTY: It is because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Mr M.F. Board: Yes, but why? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that what we are doing is eminently sensible in the light of the fall off in the patronage of this service; that is, we are amalgamating it and transferring the staff into two existing mental health programs for young and adolescent people - the consultation liaison service and the family pathways program - so that all those people who previously accessed that service through the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children will continue to be provided with that service. All that does is recognise that the staff there have minimal face-to-face contact with their clients because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Therefore, we have taken action to maintain the service to make sure it is still provided to those young children between the ages of nought to five and that it is still available so that we have that early intervention in an efficient and productive way, rather than simply doing something because historically it was always done.
172% increase in expenditure on community based services since 1992-93; 410 additional clinical staff employed in ambulatory care settings. Top ranking jurisdiction in relative size of ambulatory care clinical workforce. Stand alone psychiatric beds - Mr P.D. Omodei: This was done under the previous Government. Mr J.A. McGINTY: This is the situation here in Western Australia. I will not detract from the good work done in the time that members opposite were in government. Mr M.F. Board: But you have to keep moving and going, minister. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Sure. The report also states - Stand alone psychiatric beds reduced in number by 74% replaced by new general hospital units. Overall inpatient bed capacity decreased by 9% primarily in the non acute sector. Available inpatient beds 12% greater than the national average but the State has significantly fewer community based residential beds. Overall bed numbers are 6% less than national average. Expansion of general hospital and community based services achieved mainly through a combination of new State funds and savings from reductions in stand alone hospitals. The report continues, but members get the picture. It is true to say that Western Australia in the last decade has put a big effort into mental health. For those who say we lag behind national standards, the various benchmarks applied to mental health indicate that in some areas we could do a lot better, and in other areas, as I have just indicated in quoting from a 2002 report relating to the position up to about 2001, Western Australia occupies a positive position. I am not trying to score any cheap political points here. Efforts made by various Governments over time have contributed over the last decade to an improvement in the provision of mental health services in Western Australia; however, we still have a long way to go. To answer the question from the member for Murdoch, I want to see a lot more effort put into services that really count; that is, into the psychiatric emergency team and into services that will deliver effective end results for people with mental health problems in this community. Mr M.F. Board: Everybody throughout all the States agrees that intervention and prevention, particularly during depression, and particularly with young people, is where the main game is. If we cut programs that intervene in those areas, we will end up with more people trying to occupy mental health beds in hospitals. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: It’s preventive. Mr M.F. Board: It is preventive. The minister knows that an end result can never be shown on day one of a preventive program. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I agree with that in terms of early intervention and preventive programs, and programs that have the objective of caring for people in the community with a mental illness will have my strong support. That is different from saying that those things that do not provide any clinical or nursing support or any immediate services to the mentally unwell should be continued, because, frankly, we need to reorient our spending priorities. I will give the House one example. I have already mentioned the problem at Derbarl Yerrigan, and we are all familiar with that. Some criticism has been made of the family early intervention program run from the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. I have mentioned in this place previously that the number of occasions of service - in other words, the number of people using the service - has fallen dramatically in recent years. In 1999 there were 4 570 occasions of service. In the last financial year, 2002-03, there were 1 907 occasions of service. There has been a dramatic fall off. Consequently, the eight staff employed there spend between only 10 and 28 per cent of their time face to face with clients. That is the direct consequence of that fall off, because the staffing has remained, even though the number of occasions of service has fallen dramatically. Among the eight staff, only a small proportion of their time is spent dealing with their clients face to face. Mr M.F. Board: I would have to find a reason for that. Mr J.A. McGINTY: It is because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Mr M.F. Board: Yes, but why? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that what we are doing is eminently sensible in the light of the fall off in the patronage of this service; that is, we are amalgamating it and transferring the staff into two existing mental health programs for young and adolescent people - the consultation liaison service and the family pathways program - so that all those people who previously accessed that service through the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children will continue to be provided with that service. All that does is recognise that the staff there have minimal face-to-face contact with their clients because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Therefore, we have taken action to maintain the service to make sure it is still provided to those young children between the ages of nought to five and that it is still available so that we have that early intervention in an efficient and productive way, rather than simply doing something because historically it was always done.
Top ranking jurisdiction in relative size of ambulatory care clinical workforce. Stand alone psychiatric beds - Mr P.D. Omodei: This was done under the previous Government. Mr J.A. McGINTY: This is the situation here in Western Australia. I will not detract from the good work done in the time that members opposite were in government. Mr M.F. Board: But you have to keep moving and going, minister. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Sure. The report also states - Stand alone psychiatric beds reduced in number by 74% replaced by new general hospital units. Overall inpatient bed capacity decreased by 9% primarily in the non acute sector. Available inpatient beds 12% greater than the national average but the State has significantly fewer community based residential beds. Overall bed numbers are 6% less than national average. Expansion of general hospital and community based services achieved mainly through a combination of new State funds and savings from reductions in stand alone hospitals. The report continues, but members get the picture. It is true to say that Western Australia in the last decade has put a big effort into mental health. For those who say we lag behind national standards, the various benchmarks applied to mental health indicate that in some areas we could do a lot better, and in other areas, as I have just indicated in quoting from a 2002 report relating to the position up to about 2001, Western Australia occupies a positive position. I am not trying to score any cheap political points here. Efforts made by various Governments over time have contributed over the last decade to an improvement in the provision of mental health services in Western Australia; however, we still have a long way to go. To answer the question from the member for Murdoch, I want to see a lot more effort put into services that really count; that is, into the psychiatric emergency team and into services that will deliver effective end results for people with mental health problems in this community. Mr M.F. Board: Everybody throughout all the States agrees that intervention and prevention, particularly during depression, and particularly with young people, is where the main game is. If we cut programs that intervene in those areas, we will end up with more people trying to occupy mental health beds in hospitals. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: It’s preventive. Mr M.F. Board: It is preventive. The minister knows that an end result can never be shown on day one of a preventive program. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I agree with that in terms of early intervention and preventive programs, and programs that have the objective of caring for people in the community with a mental illness will have my strong support. That is different from saying that those things that do not provide any clinical or nursing support or any immediate services to the mentally unwell should be continued, because, frankly, we need to reorient our spending priorities. I will give the House one example. I have already mentioned the problem at Derbarl Yerrigan, and we are all familiar with that. Some criticism has been made of the family early intervention program run from the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. I have mentioned in this place previously that the number of occasions of service - in other words, the number of people using the service - has fallen dramatically in recent years. In 1999 there were 4 570 occasions of service. In the last financial year, 2002-03, there were 1 907 occasions of service. There has been a dramatic fall off. Consequently, the eight staff employed there spend between only 10 and 28 per cent of their time face to face with clients. That is the direct consequence of that fall off, because the staffing has remained, even though the number of occasions of service has fallen dramatically. Among the eight staff, only a small proportion of their time is spent dealing with their clients face to face. Mr M.F. Board: I would have to find a reason for that. Mr J.A. McGINTY: It is because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Mr M.F. Board: Yes, but why? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that what we are doing is eminently sensible in the light of the fall off in the patronage of this service; that is, we are amalgamating it and transferring the staff into two existing mental health programs for young and adolescent people - the consultation liaison service and the family pathways program - so that all those people who previously accessed that service through the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children will continue to be provided with that service. All that does is recognise that the staff there have minimal face-to-face contact with their clients because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Therefore, we have taken action to maintain the service to make sure it is still provided to those young children between the ages of nought to five and that it is still available so that we have that early intervention in an efficient and productive way, rather than simply doing something because historically it was always done.
Stand alone psychiatric beds - Mr P.D. Omodei: This was done under the previous Government. Mr J.A. McGINTY: This is the situation here in Western Australia. I will not detract from the good work done in the time that members opposite were in government. Mr M.F. Board: But you have to keep moving and going, minister. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Sure. The report also states - Stand alone psychiatric beds reduced in number by 74% replaced by new general hospital units. Overall inpatient bed capacity decreased by 9% primarily in the non acute sector. Available inpatient beds 12% greater than the national average but the State has significantly fewer community based residential beds. Overall bed numbers are 6% less than national average. Expansion of general hospital and community based services achieved mainly through a combination of new State funds and savings from reductions in stand alone hospitals. The report continues, but members get the picture. It is true to say that Western Australia in the last decade has put a big effort into mental health. For those who say we lag behind national standards, the various benchmarks applied to mental health indicate that in some areas we could do a lot better, and in other areas, as I have just indicated in quoting from a 2002 report relating to the position up to about 2001, Western Australia occupies a positive position. I am not trying to score any cheap political points here. Efforts made by various Governments over time have contributed over the last decade to an improvement in the provision of mental health services in Western Australia; however, we still have a long way to go. To answer the question from the member for Murdoch, I want to see a lot more effort put into services that really count; that is, into the psychiatric emergency team and into services that will deliver effective end results for people with mental health problems in this community. Mr M.F. Board: Everybody throughout all the States agrees that intervention and prevention, particularly during depression, and particularly with young people, is where the main game is. If we cut programs that intervene in those areas, we will end up with more people trying to occupy mental health beds in hospitals. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: It’s preventive. Mr M.F. Board: It is preventive. The minister knows that an end result can never be shown on day one of a preventive program. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I agree with that in terms of early intervention and preventive programs, and programs that have the objective of caring for people in the community with a mental illness will have my strong support. That is different from saying that those things that do not provide any clinical or nursing support or any immediate services to the mentally unwell should be continued, because, frankly, we need to reorient our spending priorities. I will give the House one example. I have already mentioned the problem at Derbarl Yerrigan, and we are all familiar with that. Some criticism has been made of the family early intervention program run from the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. I have mentioned in this place previously that the number of occasions of service - in other words, the number of people using the service - has fallen dramatically in recent years. In 1999 there were 4 570 occasions of service. In the last financial year, 2002-03, there were 1 907 occasions of service. There has been a dramatic fall off. Consequently, the eight staff employed there spend between only 10 and 28 per cent of their time face to face with clients. That is the direct consequence of that fall off, because the staffing has remained, even though the number of occasions of service has fallen dramatically. Among the eight staff, only a small proportion of their time is spent dealing with their clients face to face. Mr M.F. Board: I would have to find a reason for that. Mr J.A. McGINTY: It is because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Mr M.F. Board: Yes, but why? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that what we are doing is eminently sensible in the light of the fall off in the patronage of this service; that is, we are amalgamating it and transferring the staff into two existing mental health programs for young and adolescent people - the consultation liaison service and the family pathways program - so that all those people who previously accessed that service through the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children will continue to be provided with that service. All that does is recognise that the staff there have minimal face-to-face contact with their clients because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Therefore, we have taken action to maintain the service to make sure it is still provided to those young children between the ages of nought to five and that it is still available so that we have that early intervention in an efficient and productive way, rather than simply doing something because historically it was always done.
Mr P.D. Omodei: This was done under the previous Government. Mr J.A. McGINTY: This is the situation here in Western Australia. I will not detract from the good work done in the time that members opposite were in government. Mr M.F. Board: But you have to keep moving and going, minister. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Sure. The report also states - Stand alone psychiatric beds reduced in number by 74% replaced by new general hospital units. Overall inpatient bed capacity decreased by 9% primarily in the non acute sector. Available inpatient beds 12% greater than the national average but the State has significantly fewer community based residential beds. Overall bed numbers are 6% less than national average. Expansion of general hospital and community based services achieved mainly through a combination of new State funds and savings from reductions in stand alone hospitals. The report continues, but members get the picture. It is true to say that Western Australia in the last decade has put a big effort into mental health. For those who say we lag behind national standards, the various benchmarks applied to mental health indicate that in some areas we could do a lot better, and in other areas, as I have just indicated in quoting from a 2002 report relating to the position up to about 2001, Western Australia occupies a positive position. I am not trying to score any cheap political points here. Efforts made by various Governments over time have contributed over the last decade to an improvement in the provision of mental health services in Western Australia; however, we still have a long way to go. To answer the question from the member for Murdoch, I want to see a lot more effort put into services that really count; that is, into the psychiatric emergency team and into services that will deliver effective end results for people with mental health problems in this community. Mr M.F. Board: Everybody throughout all the States agrees that intervention and prevention, particularly during depression, and particularly with young people, is where the main game is. If we cut programs that intervene in those areas, we will end up with more people trying to occupy mental health beds in hospitals. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: It’s preventive. Mr M.F. Board: It is preventive. The minister knows that an end result can never be shown on day one of a preventive program. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I agree with that in terms of early intervention and preventive programs, and programs that have the objective of caring for people in the community with a mental illness will have my strong support. That is different from saying that those things that do not provide any clinical or nursing support or any immediate services to the mentally unwell should be continued, because, frankly, we need to reorient our spending priorities. I will give the House one example. I have already mentioned the problem at Derbarl Yerrigan, and we are all familiar with that. Some criticism has been made of the family early intervention program run from the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. I have mentioned in this place previously that the number of occasions of service - in other words, the number of people using the service - has fallen dramatically in recent years. In 1999 there were 4 570 occasions of service. In the last financial year, 2002-03, there were 1 907 occasions of service. There has been a dramatic fall off. Consequently, the eight staff employed there spend between only 10 and 28 per cent of their time face to face with clients. That is the direct consequence of that fall off, because the staffing has remained, even though the number of occasions of service has fallen dramatically. Among the eight staff, only a small proportion of their time is spent dealing with their clients face to face. Mr M.F. Board: I would have to find a reason for that. Mr J.A. McGINTY: It is because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Mr M.F. Board: Yes, but why? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that what we are doing is eminently sensible in the light of the fall off in the patronage of this service; that is, we are amalgamating it and transferring the staff into two existing mental health programs for young and adolescent people - the consultation liaison service and the family pathways program - so that all those people who previously accessed that service through the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children will continue to be provided with that service. All that does is recognise that the staff there have minimal face-to-face contact with their clients because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Therefore, we have taken action to maintain the service to make sure it is still provided to those young children between the ages of nought to five and that it is still available so that we have that early intervention in an efficient and productive way, rather than simply doing something because historically it was always done.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: This is the situation here in Western Australia. I will not detract from the good work done in the time that members opposite were in government. Mr M.F. Board: But you have to keep moving and going, minister. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Sure. The report also states - Stand alone psychiatric beds reduced in number by 74% replaced by new general hospital units. Overall inpatient bed capacity decreased by 9% primarily in the non acute sector. Available inpatient beds 12% greater than the national average but the State has significantly fewer community based residential beds. Overall bed numbers are 6% less than national average. Expansion of general hospital and community based services achieved mainly through a combination of new State funds and savings from reductions in stand alone hospitals. The report continues, but members get the picture. It is true to say that Western Australia in the last decade has put a big effort into mental health. For those who say we lag behind national standards, the various benchmarks applied to mental health indicate that in some areas we could do a lot better, and in other areas, as I have just indicated in quoting from a 2002 report relating to the position up to about 2001, Western Australia occupies a positive position. I am not trying to score any cheap political points here. Efforts made by various Governments over time have contributed over the last decade to an improvement in the provision of mental health services in Western Australia; however, we still have a long way to go. To answer the question from the member for Murdoch, I want to see a lot more effort put into services that really count; that is, into the psychiatric emergency team and into services that will deliver effective end results for people with mental health problems in this community. Mr M.F. Board: Everybody throughout all the States agrees that intervention and prevention, particularly during depression, and particularly with young people, is where the main game is. If we cut programs that intervene in those areas, we will end up with more people trying to occupy mental health beds in hospitals. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: It’s preventive. Mr M.F. Board: It is preventive. The minister knows that an end result can never be shown on day one of a preventive program. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I agree with that in terms of early intervention and preventive programs, and programs that have the objective of caring for people in the community with a mental illness will have my strong support. That is different from saying that those things that do not provide any clinical or nursing support or any immediate services to the mentally unwell should be continued, because, frankly, we need to reorient our spending priorities. I will give the House one example. I have already mentioned the problem at Derbarl Yerrigan, and we are all familiar with that. Some criticism has been made of the family early intervention program run from the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. I have mentioned in this place previously that the number of occasions of service - in other words, the number of people using the service - has fallen dramatically in recent years. In 1999 there were 4 570 occasions of service. In the last financial year, 2002-03, there were 1 907 occasions of service. There has been a dramatic fall off. Consequently, the eight staff employed there spend between only 10 and 28 per cent of their time face to face with clients. That is the direct consequence of that fall off, because the staffing has remained, even though the number of occasions of service has fallen dramatically. Among the eight staff, only a small proportion of their time is spent dealing with their clients face to face. Mr M.F. Board: I would have to find a reason for that. Mr J.A. McGINTY: It is because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Mr M.F. Board: Yes, but why? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that what we are doing is eminently sensible in the light of the fall off in the patronage of this service; that is, we are amalgamating it and transferring the staff into two existing mental health programs for young and adolescent people - the consultation liaison service and the family pathways program - so that all those people who previously accessed that service through the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children will continue to be provided with that service. All that does is recognise that the staff there have minimal face-to-face contact with their clients because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Therefore, we have taken action to maintain the service to make sure it is still provided to those young children between the ages of nought to five and that it is still available so that we have that early intervention in an efficient and productive way, rather than simply doing something because historically it was always done.
Mr M.F. Board: But you have to keep moving and going, minister. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Sure. The report also states - Stand alone psychiatric beds reduced in number by 74% replaced by new general hospital units. Overall inpatient bed capacity decreased by 9% primarily in the non acute sector. Available inpatient beds 12% greater than the national average but the State has significantly fewer community based residential beds. Overall bed numbers are 6% less than national average. Expansion of general hospital and community based services achieved mainly through a combination of new State funds and savings from reductions in stand alone hospitals. The report continues, but members get the picture. It is true to say that Western Australia in the last decade has put a big effort into mental health. For those who say we lag behind national standards, the various benchmarks applied to mental health indicate that in some areas we could do a lot better, and in other areas, as I have just indicated in quoting from a 2002 report relating to the position up to about 2001, Western Australia occupies a positive position. I am not trying to score any cheap political points here. Efforts made by various Governments over time have contributed over the last decade to an improvement in the provision of mental health services in Western Australia; however, we still have a long way to go. To answer the question from the member for Murdoch, I want to see a lot more effort put into services that really count; that is, into the psychiatric emergency team and into services that will deliver effective end results for people with mental health problems in this community. Mr M.F. Board: Everybody throughout all the States agrees that intervention and prevention, particularly during depression, and particularly with young people, is where the main game is. If we cut programs that intervene in those areas, we will end up with more people trying to occupy mental health beds in hospitals. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: It’s preventive. Mr M.F. Board: It is preventive. The minister knows that an end result can never be shown on day one of a preventive program. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I agree with that in terms of early intervention and preventive programs, and programs that have the objective of caring for people in the community with a mental illness will have my strong support. That is different from saying that those things that do not provide any clinical or nursing support or any immediate services to the mentally unwell should be continued, because, frankly, we need to reorient our spending priorities. I will give the House one example. I have already mentioned the problem at Derbarl Yerrigan, and we are all familiar with that. Some criticism has been made of the family early intervention program run from the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. I have mentioned in this place previously that the number of occasions of service - in other words, the number of people using the service - has fallen dramatically in recent years. In 1999 there were 4 570 occasions of service. In the last financial year, 2002-03, there were 1 907 occasions of service. There has been a dramatic fall off. Consequently, the eight staff employed there spend between only 10 and 28 per cent of their time face to face with clients. That is the direct consequence of that fall off, because the staffing has remained, even though the number of occasions of service has fallen dramatically. Among the eight staff, only a small proportion of their time is spent dealing with their clients face to face. Mr M.F. Board: I would have to find a reason for that. Mr J.A. McGINTY: It is because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Mr M.F. Board: Yes, but why? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that what we are doing is eminently sensible in the light of the fall off in the patronage of this service; that is, we are amalgamating it and transferring the staff into two existing mental health programs for young and adolescent people - the consultation liaison service and the family pathways program - so that all those people who previously accessed that service through the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children will continue to be provided with that service. All that does is recognise that the staff there have minimal face-to-face contact with their clients because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Therefore, we have taken action to maintain the service to make sure it is still provided to those young children between the ages of nought to five and that it is still available so that we have that early intervention in an efficient and productive way, rather than simply doing something because historically it was always done.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: Sure. The report also states - Stand alone psychiatric beds reduced in number by 74% replaced by new general hospital units. Overall inpatient bed capacity decreased by 9% primarily in the non acute sector. Available inpatient beds 12% greater than the national average but the State has significantly fewer community based residential beds. Overall bed numbers are 6% less than national average. Expansion of general hospital and community based services achieved mainly through a combination of new State funds and savings from reductions in stand alone hospitals. The report continues, but members get the picture. It is true to say that Western Australia in the last decade has put a big effort into mental health. For those who say we lag behind national standards, the various benchmarks applied to mental health indicate that in some areas we could do a lot better, and in other areas, as I have just indicated in quoting from a 2002 report relating to the position up to about 2001, Western Australia occupies a positive position. I am not trying to score any cheap political points here. Efforts made by various Governments over time have contributed over the last decade to an improvement in the provision of mental health services in Western Australia; however, we still have a long way to go. To answer the question from the member for Murdoch, I want to see a lot more effort put into services that really count; that is, into the psychiatric emergency team and into services that will deliver effective end results for people with mental health problems in this community. Mr M.F. Board: Everybody throughout all the States agrees that intervention and prevention, particularly during depression, and particularly with young people, is where the main game is. If we cut programs that intervene in those areas, we will end up with more people trying to occupy mental health beds in hospitals. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: It’s preventive. Mr M.F. Board: It is preventive. The minister knows that an end result can never be shown on day one of a preventive program. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I agree with that in terms of early intervention and preventive programs, and programs that have the objective of caring for people in the community with a mental illness will have my strong support. That is different from saying that those things that do not provide any clinical or nursing support or any immediate services to the mentally unwell should be continued, because, frankly, we need to reorient our spending priorities. I will give the House one example. I have already mentioned the problem at Derbarl Yerrigan, and we are all familiar with that. Some criticism has been made of the family early intervention program run from the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. I have mentioned in this place previously that the number of occasions of service - in other words, the number of people using the service - has fallen dramatically in recent years. In 1999 there were 4 570 occasions of service. In the last financial year, 2002-03, there were 1 907 occasions of service. There has been a dramatic fall off. Consequently, the eight staff employed there spend between only 10 and 28 per cent of their time face to face with clients. That is the direct consequence of that fall off, because the staffing has remained, even though the number of occasions of service has fallen dramatically. Among the eight staff, only a small proportion of their time is spent dealing with their clients face to face. Mr M.F. Board: I would have to find a reason for that. Mr J.A. McGINTY: It is because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Mr M.F. Board: Yes, but why? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that what we are doing is eminently sensible in the light of the fall off in the patronage of this service; that is, we are amalgamating it and transferring the staff into two existing mental health programs for young and adolescent people - the consultation liaison service and the family pathways program - so that all those people who previously accessed that service through the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children will continue to be provided with that service. All that does is recognise that the staff there have minimal face-to-face contact with their clients because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Therefore, we have taken action to maintain the service to make sure it is still provided to those young children between the ages of nought to five and that it is still available so that we have that early intervention in an efficient and productive way, rather than simply doing something because historically it was always done.
Stand alone psychiatric beds reduced in number by 74% replaced by new general hospital units. Overall inpatient bed capacity decreased by 9% primarily in the non acute sector. Available inpatient beds 12% greater than the national average but the State has significantly fewer community based residential beds. Overall bed numbers are 6% less than national average. Expansion of general hospital and community based services achieved mainly through a combination of new State funds and savings from reductions in stand alone hospitals. The report continues, but members get the picture. It is true to say that Western Australia in the last decade has put a big effort into mental health. For those who say we lag behind national standards, the various benchmarks applied to mental health indicate that in some areas we could do a lot better, and in other areas, as I have just indicated in quoting from a 2002 report relating to the position up to about 2001, Western Australia occupies a positive position. I am not trying to score any cheap political points here. Efforts made by various Governments over time have contributed over the last decade to an improvement in the provision of mental health services in Western Australia; however, we still have a long way to go. To answer the question from the member for Murdoch, I want to see a lot more effort put into services that really count; that is, into the psychiatric emergency team and into services that will deliver effective end results for people with mental health problems in this community. Mr M.F. Board: Everybody throughout all the States agrees that intervention and prevention, particularly during depression, and particularly with young people, is where the main game is. If we cut programs that intervene in those areas, we will end up with more people trying to occupy mental health beds in hospitals. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: It’s preventive. Mr M.F. Board: It is preventive. The minister knows that an end result can never be shown on day one of a preventive program. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I agree with that in terms of early intervention and preventive programs, and programs that have the objective of caring for people in the community with a mental illness will have my strong support. That is different from saying that those things that do not provide any clinical or nursing support or any immediate services to the mentally unwell should be continued, because, frankly, we need to reorient our spending priorities. I will give the House one example. I have already mentioned the problem at Derbarl Yerrigan, and we are all familiar with that. Some criticism has been made of the family early intervention program run from the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. I have mentioned in this place previously that the number of occasions of service - in other words, the number of people using the service - has fallen dramatically in recent years. In 1999 there were 4 570 occasions of service. In the last financial year, 2002-03, there were 1 907 occasions of service. There has been a dramatic fall off. Consequently, the eight staff employed there spend between only 10 and 28 per cent of their time face to face with clients. That is the direct consequence of that fall off, because the staffing has remained, even though the number of occasions of service has fallen dramatically. Among the eight staff, only a small proportion of their time is spent dealing with their clients face to face. Mr M.F. Board: I would have to find a reason for that. Mr J.A. McGINTY: It is because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Mr M.F. Board: Yes, but why? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that what we are doing is eminently sensible in the light of the fall off in the patronage of this service; that is, we are amalgamating it and transferring the staff into two existing mental health programs for young and adolescent people - the consultation liaison service and the family pathways program - so that all those people who previously accessed that service through the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children will continue to be provided with that service. All that does is recognise that the staff there have minimal face-to-face contact with their clients because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Therefore, we have taken action to maintain the service to make sure it is still provided to those young children between the ages of nought to five and that it is still available so that we have that early intervention in an efficient and productive way, rather than simply doing something because historically it was always done.
Available inpatient beds 12% greater than the national average but the State has significantly fewer community based residential beds. Overall bed numbers are 6% less than national average. Expansion of general hospital and community based services achieved mainly through a combination of new State funds and savings from reductions in stand alone hospitals. The report continues, but members get the picture. It is true to say that Western Australia in the last decade has put a big effort into mental health. For those who say we lag behind national standards, the various benchmarks applied to mental health indicate that in some areas we could do a lot better, and in other areas, as I have just indicated in quoting from a 2002 report relating to the position up to about 2001, Western Australia occupies a positive position. I am not trying to score any cheap political points here. Efforts made by various Governments over time have contributed over the last decade to an improvement in the provision of mental health services in Western Australia; however, we still have a long way to go. To answer the question from the member for Murdoch, I want to see a lot more effort put into services that really count; that is, into the psychiatric emergency team and into services that will deliver effective end results for people with mental health problems in this community. Mr M.F. Board: Everybody throughout all the States agrees that intervention and prevention, particularly during depression, and particularly with young people, is where the main game is. If we cut programs that intervene in those areas, we will end up with more people trying to occupy mental health beds in hospitals. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: It’s preventive. Mr M.F. Board: It is preventive. The minister knows that an end result can never be shown on day one of a preventive program. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I agree with that in terms of early intervention and preventive programs, and programs that have the objective of caring for people in the community with a mental illness will have my strong support. That is different from saying that those things that do not provide any clinical or nursing support or any immediate services to the mentally unwell should be continued, because, frankly, we need to reorient our spending priorities. I will give the House one example. I have already mentioned the problem at Derbarl Yerrigan, and we are all familiar with that. Some criticism has been made of the family early intervention program run from the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. I have mentioned in this place previously that the number of occasions of service - in other words, the number of people using the service - has fallen dramatically in recent years. In 1999 there were 4 570 occasions of service. In the last financial year, 2002-03, there were 1 907 occasions of service. There has been a dramatic fall off. Consequently, the eight staff employed there spend between only 10 and 28 per cent of their time face to face with clients. That is the direct consequence of that fall off, because the staffing has remained, even though the number of occasions of service has fallen dramatically. Among the eight staff, only a small proportion of their time is spent dealing with their clients face to face. Mr M.F. Board: I would have to find a reason for that. Mr J.A. McGINTY: It is because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Mr M.F. Board: Yes, but why? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that what we are doing is eminently sensible in the light of the fall off in the patronage of this service; that is, we are amalgamating it and transferring the staff into two existing mental health programs for young and adolescent people - the consultation liaison service and the family pathways program - so that all those people who previously accessed that service through the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children will continue to be provided with that service. All that does is recognise that the staff there have minimal face-to-face contact with their clients because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Therefore, we have taken action to maintain the service to make sure it is still provided to those young children between the ages of nought to five and that it is still available so that we have that early intervention in an efficient and productive way, rather than simply doing something because historically it was always done.
Expansion of general hospital and community based services achieved mainly through a combination of new State funds and savings from reductions in stand alone hospitals. The report continues, but members get the picture. It is true to say that Western Australia in the last decade has put a big effort into mental health. For those who say we lag behind national standards, the various benchmarks applied to mental health indicate that in some areas we could do a lot better, and in other areas, as I have just indicated in quoting from a 2002 report relating to the position up to about 2001, Western Australia occupies a positive position. I am not trying to score any cheap political points here. Efforts made by various Governments over time have contributed over the last decade to an improvement in the provision of mental health services in Western Australia; however, we still have a long way to go. To answer the question from the member for Murdoch, I want to see a lot more effort put into services that really count; that is, into the psychiatric emergency team and into services that will deliver effective end results for people with mental health problems in this community. Mr M.F. Board: Everybody throughout all the States agrees that intervention and prevention, particularly during depression, and particularly with young people, is where the main game is. If we cut programs that intervene in those areas, we will end up with more people trying to occupy mental health beds in hospitals. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: It’s preventive. Mr M.F. Board: It is preventive. The minister knows that an end result can never be shown on day one of a preventive program. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I agree with that in terms of early intervention and preventive programs, and programs that have the objective of caring for people in the community with a mental illness will have my strong support. That is different from saying that those things that do not provide any clinical or nursing support or any immediate services to the mentally unwell should be continued, because, frankly, we need to reorient our spending priorities. I will give the House one example. I have already mentioned the problem at Derbarl Yerrigan, and we are all familiar with that. Some criticism has been made of the family early intervention program run from the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. I have mentioned in this place previously that the number of occasions of service - in other words, the number of people using the service - has fallen dramatically in recent years. In 1999 there were 4 570 occasions of service. In the last financial year, 2002-03, there were 1 907 occasions of service. There has been a dramatic fall off. Consequently, the eight staff employed there spend between only 10 and 28 per cent of their time face to face with clients. That is the direct consequence of that fall off, because the staffing has remained, even though the number of occasions of service has fallen dramatically. Among the eight staff, only a small proportion of their time is spent dealing with their clients face to face. Mr M.F. Board: I would have to find a reason for that. Mr J.A. McGINTY: It is because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Mr M.F. Board: Yes, but why? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that what we are doing is eminently sensible in the light of the fall off in the patronage of this service; that is, we are amalgamating it and transferring the staff into two existing mental health programs for young and adolescent people - the consultation liaison service and the family pathways program - so that all those people who previously accessed that service through the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children will continue to be provided with that service. All that does is recognise that the staff there have minimal face-to-face contact with their clients because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Therefore, we have taken action to maintain the service to make sure it is still provided to those young children between the ages of nought to five and that it is still available so that we have that early intervention in an efficient and productive way, rather than simply doing something because historically it was always done.
The report continues, but members get the picture. It is true to say that Western Australia in the last decade has put a big effort into mental health. For those who say we lag behind national standards, the various benchmarks applied to mental health indicate that in some areas we could do a lot better, and in other areas, as I have just indicated in quoting from a 2002 report relating to the position up to about 2001, Western Australia occupies a positive position. I am not trying to score any cheap political points here. Efforts made by various Governments over time have contributed over the last decade to an improvement in the provision of mental health services in Western Australia; however, we still have a long way to go. To answer the question from the member for Murdoch, I want to see a lot more effort put into services that really count; that is, into the psychiatric emergency team and into services that will deliver effective end results for people with mental health problems in this community. Mr M.F. Board: Everybody throughout all the States agrees that intervention and prevention, particularly during depression, and particularly with young people, is where the main game is. If we cut programs that intervene in those areas, we will end up with more people trying to occupy mental health beds in hospitals. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: It’s preventive. Mr M.F. Board: It is preventive. The minister knows that an end result can never be shown on day one of a preventive program. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I agree with that in terms of early intervention and preventive programs, and programs that have the objective of caring for people in the community with a mental illness will have my strong support. That is different from saying that those things that do not provide any clinical or nursing support or any immediate services to the mentally unwell should be continued, because, frankly, we need to reorient our spending priorities. I will give the House one example. I have already mentioned the problem at Derbarl Yerrigan, and we are all familiar with that. Some criticism has been made of the family early intervention program run from the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. I have mentioned in this place previously that the number of occasions of service - in other words, the number of people using the service - has fallen dramatically in recent years. In 1999 there were 4 570 occasions of service. In the last financial year, 2002-03, there were 1 907 occasions of service. There has been a dramatic fall off. Consequently, the eight staff employed there spend between only 10 and 28 per cent of their time face to face with clients. That is the direct consequence of that fall off, because the staffing has remained, even though the number of occasions of service has fallen dramatically. Among the eight staff, only a small proportion of their time is spent dealing with their clients face to face. Mr M.F. Board: I would have to find a reason for that. Mr J.A. McGINTY: It is because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Mr M.F. Board: Yes, but why? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that what we are doing is eminently sensible in the light of the fall off in the patronage of this service; that is, we are amalgamating it and transferring the staff into two existing mental health programs for young and adolescent people - the consultation liaison service and the family pathways program - so that all those people who previously accessed that service through the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children will continue to be provided with that service. All that does is recognise that the staff there have minimal face-to-face contact with their clients because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Therefore, we have taken action to maintain the service to make sure it is still provided to those young children between the ages of nought to five and that it is still available so that we have that early intervention in an efficient and productive way, rather than simply doing something because historically it was always done.
To answer the question from the member for Murdoch, I want to see a lot more effort put into services that really count; that is, into the psychiatric emergency team and into services that will deliver effective end results for people with mental health problems in this community. Mr M.F. Board: Everybody throughout all the States agrees that intervention and prevention, particularly during depression, and particularly with young people, is where the main game is. If we cut programs that intervene in those areas, we will end up with more people trying to occupy mental health beds in hospitals. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: It’s preventive. Mr M.F. Board: It is preventive. The minister knows that an end result can never be shown on day one of a preventive program. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I agree with that in terms of early intervention and preventive programs, and programs that have the objective of caring for people in the community with a mental illness will have my strong support. That is different from saying that those things that do not provide any clinical or nursing support or any immediate services to the mentally unwell should be continued, because, frankly, we need to reorient our spending priorities. I will give the House one example. I have already mentioned the problem at Derbarl Yerrigan, and we are all familiar with that. Some criticism has been made of the family early intervention program run from the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. I have mentioned in this place previously that the number of occasions of service - in other words, the number of people using the service - has fallen dramatically in recent years. In 1999 there were 4 570 occasions of service. In the last financial year, 2002-03, there were 1 907 occasions of service. There has been a dramatic fall off. Consequently, the eight staff employed there spend between only 10 and 28 per cent of their time face to face with clients. That is the direct consequence of that fall off, because the staffing has remained, even though the number of occasions of service has fallen dramatically. Among the eight staff, only a small proportion of their time is spent dealing with their clients face to face. Mr M.F. Board: I would have to find a reason for that. Mr J.A. McGINTY: It is because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Mr M.F. Board: Yes, but why? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that what we are doing is eminently sensible in the light of the fall off in the patronage of this service; that is, we are amalgamating it and transferring the staff into two existing mental health programs for young and adolescent people - the consultation liaison service and the family pathways program - so that all those people who previously accessed that service through the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children will continue to be provided with that service. All that does is recognise that the staff there have minimal face-to-face contact with their clients because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Therefore, we have taken action to maintain the service to make sure it is still provided to those young children between the ages of nought to five and that it is still available so that we have that early intervention in an efficient and productive way, rather than simply doing something because historically it was always done.
Mr M.F. Board: Everybody throughout all the States agrees that intervention and prevention, particularly during depression, and particularly with young people, is where the main game is. If we cut programs that intervene in those areas, we will end up with more people trying to occupy mental health beds in hospitals. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: It’s preventive. Mr M.F. Board: It is preventive. The minister knows that an end result can never be shown on day one of a preventive program. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I agree with that in terms of early intervention and preventive programs, and programs that have the objective of caring for people in the community with a mental illness will have my strong support. That is different from saying that those things that do not provide any clinical or nursing support or any immediate services to the mentally unwell should be continued, because, frankly, we need to reorient our spending priorities. I will give the House one example. I have already mentioned the problem at Derbarl Yerrigan, and we are all familiar with that. Some criticism has been made of the family early intervention program run from the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. I have mentioned in this place previously that the number of occasions of service - in other words, the number of people using the service - has fallen dramatically in recent years. In 1999 there were 4 570 occasions of service. In the last financial year, 2002-03, there were 1 907 occasions of service. There has been a dramatic fall off. Consequently, the eight staff employed there spend between only 10 and 28 per cent of their time face to face with clients. That is the direct consequence of that fall off, because the staffing has remained, even though the number of occasions of service has fallen dramatically. Among the eight staff, only a small proportion of their time is spent dealing with their clients face to face. Mr M.F. Board: I would have to find a reason for that. Mr J.A. McGINTY: It is because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Mr M.F. Board: Yes, but why? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that what we are doing is eminently sensible in the light of the fall off in the patronage of this service; that is, we are amalgamating it and transferring the staff into two existing mental health programs for young and adolescent people - the consultation liaison service and the family pathways program - so that all those people who previously accessed that service through the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children will continue to be provided with that service. All that does is recognise that the staff there have minimal face-to-face contact with their clients because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Therefore, we have taken action to maintain the service to make sure it is still provided to those young children between the ages of nought to five and that it is still available so that we have that early intervention in an efficient and productive way, rather than simply doing something because historically it was always done.
Mrs C.L. Edwardes: It’s preventive. Mr M.F. Board: It is preventive. The minister knows that an end result can never be shown on day one of a preventive program. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I agree with that in terms of early intervention and preventive programs, and programs that have the objective of caring for people in the community with a mental illness will have my strong support. That is different from saying that those things that do not provide any clinical or nursing support or any immediate services to the mentally unwell should be continued, because, frankly, we need to reorient our spending priorities. I will give the House one example. I have already mentioned the problem at Derbarl Yerrigan, and we are all familiar with that. Some criticism has been made of the family early intervention program run from the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. I have mentioned in this place previously that the number of occasions of service - in other words, the number of people using the service - has fallen dramatically in recent years. In 1999 there were 4 570 occasions of service. In the last financial year, 2002-03, there were 1 907 occasions of service. There has been a dramatic fall off. Consequently, the eight staff employed there spend between only 10 and 28 per cent of their time face to face with clients. That is the direct consequence of that fall off, because the staffing has remained, even though the number of occasions of service has fallen dramatically. Among the eight staff, only a small proportion of their time is spent dealing with their clients face to face. Mr M.F. Board: I would have to find a reason for that. Mr J.A. McGINTY: It is because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Mr M.F. Board: Yes, but why? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that what we are doing is eminently sensible in the light of the fall off in the patronage of this service; that is, we are amalgamating it and transferring the staff into two existing mental health programs for young and adolescent people - the consultation liaison service and the family pathways program - so that all those people who previously accessed that service through the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children will continue to be provided with that service. All that does is recognise that the staff there have minimal face-to-face contact with their clients because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Therefore, we have taken action to maintain the service to make sure it is still provided to those young children between the ages of nought to five and that it is still available so that we have that early intervention in an efficient and productive way, rather than simply doing something because historically it was always done.
Mr M.F. Board: It is preventive. The minister knows that an end result can never be shown on day one of a preventive program. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I agree with that in terms of early intervention and preventive programs, and programs that have the objective of caring for people in the community with a mental illness will have my strong support. That is different from saying that those things that do not provide any clinical or nursing support or any immediate services to the mentally unwell should be continued, because, frankly, we need to reorient our spending priorities. I will give the House one example. I have already mentioned the problem at Derbarl Yerrigan, and we are all familiar with that. Some criticism has been made of the family early intervention program run from the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. I have mentioned in this place previously that the number of occasions of service - in other words, the number of people using the service - has fallen dramatically in recent years. In 1999 there were 4 570 occasions of service. In the last financial year, 2002-03, there were 1 907 occasions of service. There has been a dramatic fall off. Consequently, the eight staff employed there spend between only 10 and 28 per cent of their time face to face with clients. That is the direct consequence of that fall off, because the staffing has remained, even though the number of occasions of service has fallen dramatically. Among the eight staff, only a small proportion of their time is spent dealing with their clients face to face. Mr M.F. Board: I would have to find a reason for that. Mr J.A. McGINTY: It is because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Mr M.F. Board: Yes, but why? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that what we are doing is eminently sensible in the light of the fall off in the patronage of this service; that is, we are amalgamating it and transferring the staff into two existing mental health programs for young and adolescent people - the consultation liaison service and the family pathways program - so that all those people who previously accessed that service through the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children will continue to be provided with that service. All that does is recognise that the staff there have minimal face-to-face contact with their clients because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Therefore, we have taken action to maintain the service to make sure it is still provided to those young children between the ages of nought to five and that it is still available so that we have that early intervention in an efficient and productive way, rather than simply doing something because historically it was always done.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: I agree with that in terms of early intervention and preventive programs, and programs that have the objective of caring for people in the community with a mental illness will have my strong support. That is different from saying that those things that do not provide any clinical or nursing support or any immediate services to the mentally unwell should be continued, because, frankly, we need to reorient our spending priorities. I will give the House one example. I have already mentioned the problem at Derbarl Yerrigan, and we are all familiar with that. Some criticism has been made of the family early intervention program run from the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. I have mentioned in this place previously that the number of occasions of service - in other words, the number of people using the service - has fallen dramatically in recent years. In 1999 there were 4 570 occasions of service. In the last financial year, 2002-03, there were 1 907 occasions of service. There has been a dramatic fall off. Consequently, the eight staff employed there spend between only 10 and 28 per cent of their time face to face with clients. That is the direct consequence of that fall off, because the staffing has remained, even though the number of occasions of service has fallen dramatically. Among the eight staff, only a small proportion of their time is spent dealing with their clients face to face. Mr M.F. Board: I would have to find a reason for that. Mr J.A. McGINTY: It is because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Mr M.F. Board: Yes, but why? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that what we are doing is eminently sensible in the light of the fall off in the patronage of this service; that is, we are amalgamating it and transferring the staff into two existing mental health programs for young and adolescent people - the consultation liaison service and the family pathways program - so that all those people who previously accessed that service through the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children will continue to be provided with that service. All that does is recognise that the staff there have minimal face-to-face contact with their clients because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Therefore, we have taken action to maintain the service to make sure it is still provided to those young children between the ages of nought to five and that it is still available so that we have that early intervention in an efficient and productive way, rather than simply doing something because historically it was always done.
Mr M.F. Board: I would have to find a reason for that. Mr J.A. McGINTY: It is because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Mr M.F. Board: Yes, but why? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that what we are doing is eminently sensible in the light of the fall off in the patronage of this service; that is, we are amalgamating it and transferring the staff into two existing mental health programs for young and adolescent people - the consultation liaison service and the family pathways program - so that all those people who previously accessed that service through the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children will continue to be provided with that service. All that does is recognise that the staff there have minimal face-to-face contact with their clients because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Therefore, we have taken action to maintain the service to make sure it is still provided to those young children between the ages of nought to five and that it is still available so that we have that early intervention in an efficient and productive way, rather than simply doing something because historically it was always done.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: It is because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Mr M.F. Board: Yes, but why? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that what we are doing is eminently sensible in the light of the fall off in the patronage of this service; that is, we are amalgamating it and transferring the staff into two existing mental health programs for young and adolescent people - the consultation liaison service and the family pathways program - so that all those people who previously accessed that service through the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children will continue to be provided with that service. All that does is recognise that the staff there have minimal face-to-face contact with their clients because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Therefore, we have taken action to maintain the service to make sure it is still provided to those young children between the ages of nought to five and that it is still available so that we have that early intervention in an efficient and productive way, rather than simply doing something because historically it was always done.
Mr M.F. Board: Yes, but why? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that what we are doing is eminently sensible in the light of the fall off in the patronage of this service; that is, we are amalgamating it and transferring the staff into two existing mental health programs for young and adolescent people - the consultation liaison service and the family pathways program - so that all those people who previously accessed that service through the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children will continue to be provided with that service. All that does is recognise that the staff there have minimal face-to-face contact with their clients because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Therefore, we have taken action to maintain the service to make sure it is still provided to those young children between the ages of nought to five and that it is still available so that we have that early intervention in an efficient and productive way, rather than simply doing something because historically it was always done.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that what we are doing is eminently sensible in the light of the fall off in the patronage of this service; that is, we are amalgamating it and transferring the staff into two existing mental health programs for young and adolescent people - the consultation liaison service and the family pathways program - so that all those people who previously accessed that service through the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children will continue to be provided with that service. All that does is recognise that the staff there have minimal face-to-face contact with their clients because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Therefore, we have taken action to maintain the service to make sure it is still provided to those young children between the ages of nought to five and that it is still available so that we have that early intervention in an efficient and productive way, rather than simply doing something because historically it was always done.
. . . there were about 50 people in mental health hospital beds who did not have to be there, but there were not adequate services for them to be in the community. Given the previous answer and the cuts to non-core services, will the minister outline the additional clinical mental health services that may be provided as a result of those cuts - that is, services resulting from funding to clinical outcomes? Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: By way of answering this question, I refer the House to the most recent report on national mental health outlining state mental health service provision throughout Australia. I refer to the “National Mental Health Report” of 2002. In terms of how Western Australia sits in relation to all other jurisdictions around Australia, it states the following - Rapid growth in new State spending has slowed but remains significant under Second National Mental Health Plan. Continued as top ranking jurisdiction in overall per capita spending. In other words, we spend more per capita on mental health in Western Australia than is spent anywhere else in the country. The report further reads - 172% increase in expenditure on community based services since 1992-93; 410 additional clinical staff employed in ambulatory care settings. Top ranking jurisdiction in relative size of ambulatory care clinical workforce. Stand alone psychiatric beds - Mr P.D. Omodei: This was done under the previous Government. Mr J.A. McGINTY: This is the situation here in Western Australia. I will not detract from the good work done in the time that members opposite were in government. Mr M.F. Board: But you have to keep moving and going, minister. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Sure. The report also states - Stand alone psychiatric beds reduced in number by 74% replaced by new general hospital units. Overall inpatient bed capacity decreased by 9% primarily in the non acute sector. Available inpatient beds 12% greater than the national average but the State has significantly fewer community based residential beds. Overall bed numbers are 6% less than national average. Expansion of general hospital and community based services achieved mainly through a combination of new State funds and savings from reductions in stand alone hospitals. The report continues, but members get the picture. It is true to say that Western Australia in the last decade has put a big effort into mental health. For those who say we lag behind national standards, the various benchmarks applied to mental health indicate that in some areas we could do a lot better, and in other areas, as I have just indicated in quoting from a 2002 report relating to the position up to about 2001, Western Australia occupies a positive position. I am not trying to score any cheap political points here. Efforts made by various Governments over time have contributed over the last decade to an improvement in the provision of mental health services in Western Australia; however, we still have a long way to go. To answer the question from the member for Murdoch, I want to see a lot more effort put into services that really count; that is, into the psychiatric emergency team and into services that will deliver effective end results for people with mental health problems in this community. Mr M.F. Board: Everybody throughout all the States agrees that intervention and prevention, particularly during depression, and particularly with young people, is where the main game is. If we cut programs that intervene in those areas, we will end up with more people trying to occupy mental health beds in hospitals. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: It’s preventive. Mr M.F. Board: It is preventive. The minister knows that an end result can never be shown on day one of a preventive program. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I agree with that in terms of early intervention and preventive programs, and programs that have the objective of caring for people in the community with a mental illness will have my strong support. That is different from saying that those things that do not provide any clinical or nursing support or any immediate services to the mentally unwell should be continued, because, frankly, we need to reorient our spending priorities. I will give the House one example. I have already mentioned the problem at Derbarl Yerrigan, and we are all familiar with that. Some criticism has been made of the family early intervention program run from the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. I have mentioned in this place previously that the number of occasions of service - in other words, the number of people using the service - has fallen dramatically in recent years. In 1999 there were 4 570 occasions of service. In the last financial year, 2002-03, there were 1 907 occasions of service. There has been a dramatic fall off. Consequently, the eight staff employed there spend between only 10 and 28 per cent of their time face to face with clients. That is the direct consequence of that fall off, because the staffing has remained, even though the number of occasions of service has fallen dramatically. Among the eight staff, only a small proportion of their time is spent dealing with their clients face to face. Mr M.F. Board: I would have to find a reason for that. Mr J.A. McGINTY: It is because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Mr M.F. Board: Yes, but why? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that what we are doing is eminently sensible in the light of the fall off in the patronage of this service; that is, we are amalgamating it and transferring the staff into two existing mental health programs for young and adolescent people - the consultation liaison service and the family pathways program - so that all those people who previously accessed that service through the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children will continue to be provided with that service. All that does is recognise that the staff there have minimal face-to-face contact with their clients because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Therefore, we have taken action to maintain the service to make sure it is still provided to those young children between the ages of nought to five and that it is still available so that we have that early intervention in an efficient and productive way, rather than simply doing something because historically it was always done.
Given the previous answer and the cuts to non-core services, will the minister outline the additional clinical mental health services that may be provided as a result of those cuts - that is, services resulting from funding to clinical outcomes? Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: By way of answering this question, I refer the House to the most recent report on national mental health outlining state mental health service provision throughout Australia. I refer to the “National Mental Health Report” of 2002. In terms of how Western Australia sits in relation to all other jurisdictions around Australia, it states the following - Rapid growth in new State spending has slowed but remains significant under Second National Mental Health Plan. Continued as top ranking jurisdiction in overall per capita spending. In other words, we spend more per capita on mental health in Western Australia than is spent anywhere else in the country. The report further reads - 172% increase in expenditure on community based services since 1992-93; 410 additional clinical staff employed in ambulatory care settings. Top ranking jurisdiction in relative size of ambulatory care clinical workforce. Stand alone psychiatric beds - Mr P.D. Omodei: This was done under the previous Government. Mr J.A. McGINTY: This is the situation here in Western Australia. I will not detract from the good work done in the time that members opposite were in government. Mr M.F. Board: But you have to keep moving and going, minister. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Sure. The report also states - Stand alone psychiatric beds reduced in number by 74% replaced by new general hospital units. Overall inpatient bed capacity decreased by 9% primarily in the non acute sector. Available inpatient beds 12% greater than the national average but the State has significantly fewer community based residential beds. Overall bed numbers are 6% less than national average. Expansion of general hospital and community based services achieved mainly through a combination of new State funds and savings from reductions in stand alone hospitals. The report continues, but members get the picture. It is true to say that Western Australia in the last decade has put a big effort into mental health. For those who say we lag behind national standards, the various benchmarks applied to mental health indicate that in some areas we could do a lot better, and in other areas, as I have just indicated in quoting from a 2002 report relating to the position up to about 2001, Western Australia occupies a positive position. I am not trying to score any cheap political points here. Efforts made by various Governments over time have contributed over the last decade to an improvement in the provision of mental health services in Western Australia; however, we still have a long way to go. To answer the question from the member for Murdoch, I want to see a lot more effort put into services that really count; that is, into the psychiatric emergency team and into services that will deliver effective end results for people with mental health problems in this community. Mr M.F. Board: Everybody throughout all the States agrees that intervention and prevention, particularly during depression, and particularly with young people, is where the main game is. If we cut programs that intervene in those areas, we will end up with more people trying to occupy mental health beds in hospitals. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: It’s preventive. Mr M.F. Board: It is preventive. The minister knows that an end result can never be shown on day one of a preventive program. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I agree with that in terms of early intervention and preventive programs, and programs that have the objective of caring for people in the community with a mental illness will have my strong support. That is different from saying that those things that do not provide any clinical or nursing support or any immediate services to the mentally unwell should be continued, because, frankly, we need to reorient our spending priorities. I will give the House one example. I have already mentioned the problem at Derbarl Yerrigan, and we are all familiar with that. Some criticism has been made of the family early intervention program run from the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. I have mentioned in this place previously that the number of occasions of service - in other words, the number of people using the service - has fallen dramatically in recent years. In 1999 there were 4 570 occasions of service. In the last financial year, 2002-03, there were 1 907 occasions of service. There has been a dramatic fall off. Consequently, the eight staff employed there spend between only 10 and 28 per cent of their time face to face with clients. That is the direct consequence of that fall off, because the staffing has remained, even though the number of occasions of service has fallen dramatically. Among the eight staff, only a small proportion of their time is spent dealing with their clients face to face. Mr M.F. Board: I would have to find a reason for that. Mr J.A. McGINTY: It is because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Mr M.F. Board: Yes, but why? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that what we are doing is eminently sensible in the light of the fall off in the patronage of this service; that is, we are amalgamating it and transferring the staff into two existing mental health programs for young and adolescent people - the consultation liaison service and the family pathways program - so that all those people who previously accessed that service through the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children will continue to be provided with that service. All that does is recognise that the staff there have minimal face-to-face contact with their clients because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Therefore, we have taken action to maintain the service to make sure it is still provided to those young children between the ages of nought to five and that it is still available so that we have that early intervention in an efficient and productive way, rather than simply doing something because historically it was always done.
Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: By way of answering this question, I refer the House to the most recent report on national mental health outlining state mental health service provision throughout Australia. I refer to the “National Mental Health Report” of 2002. In terms of how Western Australia sits in relation to all other jurisdictions around Australia, it states the following - Rapid growth in new State spending has slowed but remains significant under Second National Mental Health Plan. Continued as top ranking jurisdiction in overall per capita spending. In other words, we spend more per capita on mental health in Western Australia than is spent anywhere else in the country. The report further reads - 172% increase in expenditure on community based services since 1992-93; 410 additional clinical staff employed in ambulatory care settings. Top ranking jurisdiction in relative size of ambulatory care clinical workforce. Stand alone psychiatric beds - Mr P.D. Omodei: This was done under the previous Government. Mr J.A. McGINTY: This is the situation here in Western Australia. I will not detract from the good work done in the time that members opposite were in government. Mr M.F. Board: But you have to keep moving and going, minister. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Sure. The report also states - Stand alone psychiatric beds reduced in number by 74% replaced by new general hospital units. Overall inpatient bed capacity decreased by 9% primarily in the non acute sector. Available inpatient beds 12% greater than the national average but the State has significantly fewer community based residential beds. Overall bed numbers are 6% less than national average. Expansion of general hospital and community based services achieved mainly through a combination of new State funds and savings from reductions in stand alone hospitals. The report continues, but members get the picture. It is true to say that Western Australia in the last decade has put a big effort into mental health. For those who say we lag behind national standards, the various benchmarks applied to mental health indicate that in some areas we could do a lot better, and in other areas, as I have just indicated in quoting from a 2002 report relating to the position up to about 2001, Western Australia occupies a positive position. I am not trying to score any cheap political points here. Efforts made by various Governments over time have contributed over the last decade to an improvement in the provision of mental health services in Western Australia; however, we still have a long way to go. To answer the question from the member for Murdoch, I want to see a lot more effort put into services that really count; that is, into the psychiatric emergency team and into services that will deliver effective end results for people with mental health problems in this community. Mr M.F. Board: Everybody throughout all the States agrees that intervention and prevention, particularly during depression, and particularly with young people, is where the main game is. If we cut programs that intervene in those areas, we will end up with more people trying to occupy mental health beds in hospitals. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: It’s preventive. Mr M.F. Board: It is preventive. The minister knows that an end result can never be shown on day one of a preventive program. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I agree with that in terms of early intervention and preventive programs, and programs that have the objective of caring for people in the community with a mental illness will have my strong support. That is different from saying that those things that do not provide any clinical or nursing support or any immediate services to the mentally unwell should be continued, because, frankly, we need to reorient our spending priorities. I will give the House one example. I have already mentioned the problem at Derbarl Yerrigan, and we are all familiar with that. Some criticism has been made of the family early intervention program run from the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. I have mentioned in this place previously that the number of occasions of service - in other words, the number of people using the service - has fallen dramatically in recent years. In 1999 there were 4 570 occasions of service. In the last financial year, 2002-03, there were 1 907 occasions of service. There has been a dramatic fall off. Consequently, the eight staff employed there spend between only 10 and 28 per cent of their time face to face with clients. That is the direct consequence of that fall off, because the staffing has remained, even though the number of occasions of service has fallen dramatically. Among the eight staff, only a small proportion of their time is spent dealing with their clients face to face. Mr M.F. Board: I would have to find a reason for that. Mr J.A. McGINTY: It is because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Mr M.F. Board: Yes, but why? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that what we are doing is eminently sensible in the light of the fall off in the patronage of this service; that is, we are amalgamating it and transferring the staff into two existing mental health programs for young and adolescent people - the consultation liaison service and the family pathways program - so that all those people who previously accessed that service through the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children will continue to be provided with that service. All that does is recognise that the staff there have minimal face-to-face contact with their clients because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Therefore, we have taken action to maintain the service to make sure it is still provided to those young children between the ages of nought to five and that it is still available so that we have that early intervention in an efficient and productive way, rather than simply doing something because historically it was always done.
By way of answering this question, I refer the House to the most recent report on national mental health outlining state mental health service provision throughout Australia. I refer to the “National Mental Health Report” of 2002. In terms of how Western Australia sits in relation to all other jurisdictions around Australia, it states the following - Rapid growth in new State spending has slowed but remains significant under Second National Mental Health Plan. Continued as top ranking jurisdiction in overall per capita spending. In other words, we spend more per capita on mental health in Western Australia than is spent anywhere else in the country. The report further reads - 172% increase in expenditure on community based services since 1992-93; 410 additional clinical staff employed in ambulatory care settings. Top ranking jurisdiction in relative size of ambulatory care clinical workforce. Stand alone psychiatric beds - Mr P.D. Omodei: This was done under the previous Government. Mr J.A. McGINTY: This is the situation here in Western Australia. I will not detract from the good work done in the time that members opposite were in government. Mr M.F. Board: But you have to keep moving and going, minister. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Sure. The report also states - Stand alone psychiatric beds reduced in number by 74% replaced by new general hospital units. Overall inpatient bed capacity decreased by 9% primarily in the non acute sector. Available inpatient beds 12% greater than the national average but the State has significantly fewer community based residential beds. Overall bed numbers are 6% less than national average. Expansion of general hospital and community based services achieved mainly through a combination of new State funds and savings from reductions in stand alone hospitals. The report continues, but members get the picture. It is true to say that Western Australia in the last decade has put a big effort into mental health. For those who say we lag behind national standards, the various benchmarks applied to mental health indicate that in some areas we could do a lot better, and in other areas, as I have just indicated in quoting from a 2002 report relating to the position up to about 2001, Western Australia occupies a positive position. I am not trying to score any cheap political points here. Efforts made by various Governments over time have contributed over the last decade to an improvement in the provision of mental health services in Western Australia; however, we still have a long way to go. To answer the question from the member for Murdoch, I want to see a lot more effort put into services that really count; that is, into the psychiatric emergency team and into services that will deliver effective end results for people with mental health problems in this community. Mr M.F. Board: Everybody throughout all the States agrees that intervention and prevention, particularly during depression, and particularly with young people, is where the main game is. If we cut programs that intervene in those areas, we will end up with more people trying to occupy mental health beds in hospitals. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: It’s preventive. Mr M.F. Board: It is preventive. The minister knows that an end result can never be shown on day one of a preventive program. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I agree with that in terms of early intervention and preventive programs, and programs that have the objective of caring for people in the community with a mental illness will have my strong support. That is different from saying that those things that do not provide any clinical or nursing support or any immediate services to the mentally unwell should be continued, because, frankly, we need to reorient our spending priorities. I will give the House one example. I have already mentioned the problem at Derbarl Yerrigan, and we are all familiar with that. Some criticism has been made of the family early intervention program run from the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. I have mentioned in this place previously that the number of occasions of service - in other words, the number of people using the service - has fallen dramatically in recent years. In 1999 there were 4 570 occasions of service. In the last financial year, 2002-03, there were 1 907 occasions of service. There has been a dramatic fall off. Consequently, the eight staff employed there spend between only 10 and 28 per cent of their time face to face with clients. That is the direct consequence of that fall off, because the staffing has remained, even though the number of occasions of service has fallen dramatically. Among the eight staff, only a small proportion of their time is spent dealing with their clients face to face. Mr M.F. Board: I would have to find a reason for that. Mr J.A. McGINTY: It is because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Mr M.F. Board: Yes, but why? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that what we are doing is eminently sensible in the light of the fall off in the patronage of this service; that is, we are amalgamating it and transferring the staff into two existing mental health programs for young and adolescent people - the consultation liaison service and the family pathways program - so that all those people who previously accessed that service through the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children will continue to be provided with that service. All that does is recognise that the staff there have minimal face-to-face contact with their clients because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Therefore, we have taken action to maintain the service to make sure it is still provided to those young children between the ages of nought to five and that it is still available so that we have that early intervention in an efficient and productive way, rather than simply doing something because historically it was always done.
Rapid growth in new State spending has slowed but remains significant under Second National Mental Health Plan. Continued as top ranking jurisdiction in overall per capita spending. In other words, we spend more per capita on mental health in Western Australia than is spent anywhere else in the country. The report further reads - 172% increase in expenditure on community based services since 1992-93; 410 additional clinical staff employed in ambulatory care settings. Top ranking jurisdiction in relative size of ambulatory care clinical workforce. Stand alone psychiatric beds - Mr P.D. Omodei: This was done under the previous Government. Mr J.A. McGINTY: This is the situation here in Western Australia. I will not detract from the good work done in the time that members opposite were in government. Mr M.F. Board: But you have to keep moving and going, minister. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Sure. The report also states - Stand alone psychiatric beds reduced in number by 74% replaced by new general hospital units. Overall inpatient bed capacity decreased by 9% primarily in the non acute sector. Available inpatient beds 12% greater than the national average but the State has significantly fewer community based residential beds. Overall bed numbers are 6% less than national average. Expansion of general hospital and community based services achieved mainly through a combination of new State funds and savings from reductions in stand alone hospitals. The report continues, but members get the picture. It is true to say that Western Australia in the last decade has put a big effort into mental health. For those who say we lag behind national standards, the various benchmarks applied to mental health indicate that in some areas we could do a lot better, and in other areas, as I have just indicated in quoting from a 2002 report relating to the position up to about 2001, Western Australia occupies a positive position. I am not trying to score any cheap political points here. Efforts made by various Governments over time have contributed over the last decade to an improvement in the provision of mental health services in Western Australia; however, we still have a long way to go. To answer the question from the member for Murdoch, I want to see a lot more effort put into services that really count; that is, into the psychiatric emergency team and into services that will deliver effective end results for people with mental health problems in this community. Mr M.F. Board: Everybody throughout all the States agrees that intervention and prevention, particularly during depression, and particularly with young people, is where the main game is. If we cut programs that intervene in those areas, we will end up with more people trying to occupy mental health beds in hospitals. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: It’s preventive. Mr M.F. Board: It is preventive. The minister knows that an end result can never be shown on day one of a preventive program. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I agree with that in terms of early intervention and preventive programs, and programs that have the objective of caring for people in the community with a mental illness will have my strong support. That is different from saying that those things that do not provide any clinical or nursing support or any immediate services to the mentally unwell should be continued, because, frankly, we need to reorient our spending priorities. I will give the House one example. I have already mentioned the problem at Derbarl Yerrigan, and we are all familiar with that. Some criticism has been made of the family early intervention program run from the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. I have mentioned in this place previously that the number of occasions of service - in other words, the number of people using the service - has fallen dramatically in recent years. In 1999 there were 4 570 occasions of service. In the last financial year, 2002-03, there were 1 907 occasions of service. There has been a dramatic fall off. Consequently, the eight staff employed there spend between only 10 and 28 per cent of their time face to face with clients. That is the direct consequence of that fall off, because the staffing has remained, even though the number of occasions of service has fallen dramatically. Among the eight staff, only a small proportion of their time is spent dealing with their clients face to face. Mr M.F. Board: I would have to find a reason for that. Mr J.A. McGINTY: It is because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Mr M.F. Board: Yes, but why? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that what we are doing is eminently sensible in the light of the fall off in the patronage of this service; that is, we are amalgamating it and transferring the staff into two existing mental health programs for young and adolescent people - the consultation liaison service and the family pathways program - so that all those people who previously accessed that service through the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children will continue to be provided with that service. All that does is recognise that the staff there have minimal face-to-face contact with their clients because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Therefore, we have taken action to maintain the service to make sure it is still provided to those young children between the ages of nought to five and that it is still available so that we have that early intervention in an efficient and productive way, rather than simply doing something because historically it was always done.
Continued as top ranking jurisdiction in overall per capita spending. In other words, we spend more per capita on mental health in Western Australia than is spent anywhere else in the country. The report further reads - 172% increase in expenditure on community based services since 1992-93; 410 additional clinical staff employed in ambulatory care settings. Top ranking jurisdiction in relative size of ambulatory care clinical workforce. Stand alone psychiatric beds - Mr P.D. Omodei: This was done under the previous Government. Mr J.A. McGINTY: This is the situation here in Western Australia. I will not detract from the good work done in the time that members opposite were in government. Mr M.F. Board: But you have to keep moving and going, minister. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Sure. The report also states - Stand alone psychiatric beds reduced in number by 74% replaced by new general hospital units. Overall inpatient bed capacity decreased by 9% primarily in the non acute sector. Available inpatient beds 12% greater than the national average but the State has significantly fewer community based residential beds. Overall bed numbers are 6% less than national average. Expansion of general hospital and community based services achieved mainly through a combination of new State funds and savings from reductions in stand alone hospitals. The report continues, but members get the picture. It is true to say that Western Australia in the last decade has put a big effort into mental health. For those who say we lag behind national standards, the various benchmarks applied to mental health indicate that in some areas we could do a lot better, and in other areas, as I have just indicated in quoting from a 2002 report relating to the position up to about 2001, Western Australia occupies a positive position. I am not trying to score any cheap political points here. Efforts made by various Governments over time have contributed over the last decade to an improvement in the provision of mental health services in Western Australia; however, we still have a long way to go. To answer the question from the member for Murdoch, I want to see a lot more effort put into services that really count; that is, into the psychiatric emergency team and into services that will deliver effective end results for people with mental health problems in this community. Mr M.F. Board: Everybody throughout all the States agrees that intervention and prevention, particularly during depression, and particularly with young people, is where the main game is. If we cut programs that intervene in those areas, we will end up with more people trying to occupy mental health beds in hospitals. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: It’s preventive. Mr M.F. Board: It is preventive. The minister knows that an end result can never be shown on day one of a preventive program. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I agree with that in terms of early intervention and preventive programs, and programs that have the objective of caring for people in the community with a mental illness will have my strong support. That is different from saying that those things that do not provide any clinical or nursing support or any immediate services to the mentally unwell should be continued, because, frankly, we need to reorient our spending priorities. I will give the House one example. I have already mentioned the problem at Derbarl Yerrigan, and we are all familiar with that. Some criticism has been made of the family early intervention program run from the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. I have mentioned in this place previously that the number of occasions of service - in other words, the number of people using the service - has fallen dramatically in recent years. In 1999 there were 4 570 occasions of service. In the last financial year, 2002-03, there were 1 907 occasions of service. There has been a dramatic fall off. Consequently, the eight staff employed there spend between only 10 and 28 per cent of their time face to face with clients. That is the direct consequence of that fall off, because the staffing has remained, even though the number of occasions of service has fallen dramatically. Among the eight staff, only a small proportion of their time is spent dealing with their clients face to face. Mr M.F. Board: I would have to find a reason for that. Mr J.A. McGINTY: It is because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Mr M.F. Board: Yes, but why? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that what we are doing is eminently sensible in the light of the fall off in the patronage of this service; that is, we are amalgamating it and transferring the staff into two existing mental health programs for young and adolescent people - the consultation liaison service and the family pathways program - so that all those people who previously accessed that service through the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children will continue to be provided with that service. All that does is recognise that the staff there have minimal face-to-face contact with their clients because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Therefore, we have taken action to maintain the service to make sure it is still provided to those young children between the ages of nought to five and that it is still available so that we have that early intervention in an efficient and productive way, rather than simply doing something because historically it was always done.
In other words, we spend more per capita on mental health in Western Australia than is spent anywhere else in the country. The report further reads - 172% increase in expenditure on community based services since 1992-93; 410 additional clinical staff employed in ambulatory care settings. Top ranking jurisdiction in relative size of ambulatory care clinical workforce. Stand alone psychiatric beds - Mr P.D. Omodei: This was done under the previous Government. Mr J.A. McGINTY: This is the situation here in Western Australia. I will not detract from the good work done in the time that members opposite were in government. Mr M.F. Board: But you have to keep moving and going, minister. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Sure. The report also states - Stand alone psychiatric beds reduced in number by 74% replaced by new general hospital units. Overall inpatient bed capacity decreased by 9% primarily in the non acute sector. Available inpatient beds 12% greater than the national average but the State has significantly fewer community based residential beds. Overall bed numbers are 6% less than national average. Expansion of general hospital and community based services achieved mainly through a combination of new State funds and savings from reductions in stand alone hospitals. The report continues, but members get the picture. It is true to say that Western Australia in the last decade has put a big effort into mental health. For those who say we lag behind national standards, the various benchmarks applied to mental health indicate that in some areas we could do a lot better, and in other areas, as I have just indicated in quoting from a 2002 report relating to the position up to about 2001, Western Australia occupies a positive position. I am not trying to score any cheap political points here. Efforts made by various Governments over time have contributed over the last decade to an improvement in the provision of mental health services in Western Australia; however, we still have a long way to go. To answer the question from the member for Murdoch, I want to see a lot more effort put into services that really count; that is, into the psychiatric emergency team and into services that will deliver effective end results for people with mental health problems in this community. Mr M.F. Board: Everybody throughout all the States agrees that intervention and prevention, particularly during depression, and particularly with young people, is where the main game is. If we cut programs that intervene in those areas, we will end up with more people trying to occupy mental health beds in hospitals. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: It’s preventive. Mr M.F. Board: It is preventive. The minister knows that an end result can never be shown on day one of a preventive program. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I agree with that in terms of early intervention and preventive programs, and programs that have the objective of caring for people in the community with a mental illness will have my strong support. That is different from saying that those things that do not provide any clinical or nursing support or any immediate services to the mentally unwell should be continued, because, frankly, we need to reorient our spending priorities. I will give the House one example. I have already mentioned the problem at Derbarl Yerrigan, and we are all familiar with that. Some criticism has been made of the family early intervention program run from the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. I have mentioned in this place previously that the number of occasions of service - in other words, the number of people using the service - has fallen dramatically in recent years. In 1999 there were 4 570 occasions of service. In the last financial year, 2002-03, there were 1 907 occasions of service. There has been a dramatic fall off. Consequently, the eight staff employed there spend between only 10 and 28 per cent of their time face to face with clients. That is the direct consequence of that fall off, because the staffing has remained, even though the number of occasions of service has fallen dramatically. Among the eight staff, only a small proportion of their time is spent dealing with their clients face to face. Mr M.F. Board: I would have to find a reason for that. Mr J.A. McGINTY: It is because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Mr M.F. Board: Yes, but why? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that what we are doing is eminently sensible in the light of the fall off in the patronage of this service; that is, we are amalgamating it and transferring the staff into two existing mental health programs for young and adolescent people - the consultation liaison service and the family pathways program - so that all those people who previously accessed that service through the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children will continue to be provided with that service. All that does is recognise that the staff there have minimal face-to-face contact with their clients because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Therefore, we have taken action to maintain the service to make sure it is still provided to those young children between the ages of nought to five and that it is still available so that we have that early intervention in an efficient and productive way, rather than simply doing something because historically it was always done.
172% increase in expenditure on community based services since 1992-93; 410 additional clinical staff employed in ambulatory care settings. Top ranking jurisdiction in relative size of ambulatory care clinical workforce. Stand alone psychiatric beds - Mr P.D. Omodei: This was done under the previous Government. Mr J.A. McGINTY: This is the situation here in Western Australia. I will not detract from the good work done in the time that members opposite were in government. Mr M.F. Board: But you have to keep moving and going, minister. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Sure. The report also states - Stand alone psychiatric beds reduced in number by 74% replaced by new general hospital units. Overall inpatient bed capacity decreased by 9% primarily in the non acute sector. Available inpatient beds 12% greater than the national average but the State has significantly fewer community based residential beds. Overall bed numbers are 6% less than national average. Expansion of general hospital and community based services achieved mainly through a combination of new State funds and savings from reductions in stand alone hospitals. The report continues, but members get the picture. It is true to say that Western Australia in the last decade has put a big effort into mental health. For those who say we lag behind national standards, the various benchmarks applied to mental health indicate that in some areas we could do a lot better, and in other areas, as I have just indicated in quoting from a 2002 report relating to the position up to about 2001, Western Australia occupies a positive position. I am not trying to score any cheap political points here. Efforts made by various Governments over time have contributed over the last decade to an improvement in the provision of mental health services in Western Australia; however, we still have a long way to go. To answer the question from the member for Murdoch, I want to see a lot more effort put into services that really count; that is, into the psychiatric emergency team and into services that will deliver effective end results for people with mental health problems in this community. Mr M.F. Board: Everybody throughout all the States agrees that intervention and prevention, particularly during depression, and particularly with young people, is where the main game is. If we cut programs that intervene in those areas, we will end up with more people trying to occupy mental health beds in hospitals. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: It’s preventive. Mr M.F. Board: It is preventive. The minister knows that an end result can never be shown on day one of a preventive program. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I agree with that in terms of early intervention and preventive programs, and programs that have the objective of caring for people in the community with a mental illness will have my strong support. That is different from saying that those things that do not provide any clinical or nursing support or any immediate services to the mentally unwell should be continued, because, frankly, we need to reorient our spending priorities. I will give the House one example. I have already mentioned the problem at Derbarl Yerrigan, and we are all familiar with that. Some criticism has been made of the family early intervention program run from the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. I have mentioned in this place previously that the number of occasions of service - in other words, the number of people using the service - has fallen dramatically in recent years. In 1999 there were 4 570 occasions of service. In the last financial year, 2002-03, there were 1 907 occasions of service. There has been a dramatic fall off. Consequently, the eight staff employed there spend between only 10 and 28 per cent of their time face to face with clients. That is the direct consequence of that fall off, because the staffing has remained, even though the number of occasions of service has fallen dramatically. Among the eight staff, only a small proportion of their time is spent dealing with their clients face to face. Mr M.F. Board: I would have to find a reason for that. Mr J.A. McGINTY: It is because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Mr M.F. Board: Yes, but why? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that what we are doing is eminently sensible in the light of the fall off in the patronage of this service; that is, we are amalgamating it and transferring the staff into two existing mental health programs for young and adolescent people - the consultation liaison service and the family pathways program - so that all those people who previously accessed that service through the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children will continue to be provided with that service. All that does is recognise that the staff there have minimal face-to-face contact with their clients because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Therefore, we have taken action to maintain the service to make sure it is still provided to those young children between the ages of nought to five and that it is still available so that we have that early intervention in an efficient and productive way, rather than simply doing something because historically it was always done.
Top ranking jurisdiction in relative size of ambulatory care clinical workforce. Stand alone psychiatric beds - Mr P.D. Omodei: This was done under the previous Government. Mr J.A. McGINTY: This is the situation here in Western Australia. I will not detract from the good work done in the time that members opposite were in government. Mr M.F. Board: But you have to keep moving and going, minister. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Sure. The report also states - Stand alone psychiatric beds reduced in number by 74% replaced by new general hospital units. Overall inpatient bed capacity decreased by 9% primarily in the non acute sector. Available inpatient beds 12% greater than the national average but the State has significantly fewer community based residential beds. Overall bed numbers are 6% less than national average. Expansion of general hospital and community based services achieved mainly through a combination of new State funds and savings from reductions in stand alone hospitals. The report continues, but members get the picture. It is true to say that Western Australia in the last decade has put a big effort into mental health. For those who say we lag behind national standards, the various benchmarks applied to mental health indicate that in some areas we could do a lot better, and in other areas, as I have just indicated in quoting from a 2002 report relating to the position up to about 2001, Western Australia occupies a positive position. I am not trying to score any cheap political points here. Efforts made by various Governments over time have contributed over the last decade to an improvement in the provision of mental health services in Western Australia; however, we still have a long way to go. To answer the question from the member for Murdoch, I want to see a lot more effort put into services that really count; that is, into the psychiatric emergency team and into services that will deliver effective end results for people with mental health problems in this community. Mr M.F. Board: Everybody throughout all the States agrees that intervention and prevention, particularly during depression, and particularly with young people, is where the main game is. If we cut programs that intervene in those areas, we will end up with more people trying to occupy mental health beds in hospitals. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: It’s preventive. Mr M.F. Board: It is preventive. The minister knows that an end result can never be shown on day one of a preventive program. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I agree with that in terms of early intervention and preventive programs, and programs that have the objective of caring for people in the community with a mental illness will have my strong support. That is different from saying that those things that do not provide any clinical or nursing support or any immediate services to the mentally unwell should be continued, because, frankly, we need to reorient our spending priorities. I will give the House one example. I have already mentioned the problem at Derbarl Yerrigan, and we are all familiar with that. Some criticism has been made of the family early intervention program run from the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. I have mentioned in this place previously that the number of occasions of service - in other words, the number of people using the service - has fallen dramatically in recent years. In 1999 there were 4 570 occasions of service. In the last financial year, 2002-03, there were 1 907 occasions of service. There has been a dramatic fall off. Consequently, the eight staff employed there spend between only 10 and 28 per cent of their time face to face with clients. That is the direct consequence of that fall off, because the staffing has remained, even though the number of occasions of service has fallen dramatically. Among the eight staff, only a small proportion of their time is spent dealing with their clients face to face. Mr M.F. Board: I would have to find a reason for that. Mr J.A. McGINTY: It is because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Mr M.F. Board: Yes, but why? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that what we are doing is eminently sensible in the light of the fall off in the patronage of this service; that is, we are amalgamating it and transferring the staff into two existing mental health programs for young and adolescent people - the consultation liaison service and the family pathways program - so that all those people who previously accessed that service through the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children will continue to be provided with that service. All that does is recognise that the staff there have minimal face-to-face contact with their clients because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Therefore, we have taken action to maintain the service to make sure it is still provided to those young children between the ages of nought to five and that it is still available so that we have that early intervention in an efficient and productive way, rather than simply doing something because historically it was always done.
Stand alone psychiatric beds - Mr P.D. Omodei: This was done under the previous Government. Mr J.A. McGINTY: This is the situation here in Western Australia. I will not detract from the good work done in the time that members opposite were in government. Mr M.F. Board: But you have to keep moving and going, minister. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Sure. The report also states - Stand alone psychiatric beds reduced in number by 74% replaced by new general hospital units. Overall inpatient bed capacity decreased by 9% primarily in the non acute sector. Available inpatient beds 12% greater than the national average but the State has significantly fewer community based residential beds. Overall bed numbers are 6% less than national average. Expansion of general hospital and community based services achieved mainly through a combination of new State funds and savings from reductions in stand alone hospitals. The report continues, but members get the picture. It is true to say that Western Australia in the last decade has put a big effort into mental health. For those who say we lag behind national standards, the various benchmarks applied to mental health indicate that in some areas we could do a lot better, and in other areas, as I have just indicated in quoting from a 2002 report relating to the position up to about 2001, Western Australia occupies a positive position. I am not trying to score any cheap political points here. Efforts made by various Governments over time have contributed over the last decade to an improvement in the provision of mental health services in Western Australia; however, we still have a long way to go. To answer the question from the member for Murdoch, I want to see a lot more effort put into services that really count; that is, into the psychiatric emergency team and into services that will deliver effective end results for people with mental health problems in this community. Mr M.F. Board: Everybody throughout all the States agrees that intervention and prevention, particularly during depression, and particularly with young people, is where the main game is. If we cut programs that intervene in those areas, we will end up with more people trying to occupy mental health beds in hospitals. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: It’s preventive. Mr M.F. Board: It is preventive. The minister knows that an end result can never be shown on day one of a preventive program. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I agree with that in terms of early intervention and preventive programs, and programs that have the objective of caring for people in the community with a mental illness will have my strong support. That is different from saying that those things that do not provide any clinical or nursing support or any immediate services to the mentally unwell should be continued, because, frankly, we need to reorient our spending priorities. I will give the House one example. I have already mentioned the problem at Derbarl Yerrigan, and we are all familiar with that. Some criticism has been made of the family early intervention program run from the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. I have mentioned in this place previously that the number of occasions of service - in other words, the number of people using the service - has fallen dramatically in recent years. In 1999 there were 4 570 occasions of service. In the last financial year, 2002-03, there were 1 907 occasions of service. There has been a dramatic fall off. Consequently, the eight staff employed there spend between only 10 and 28 per cent of their time face to face with clients. That is the direct consequence of that fall off, because the staffing has remained, even though the number of occasions of service has fallen dramatically. Among the eight staff, only a small proportion of their time is spent dealing with their clients face to face. Mr M.F. Board: I would have to find a reason for that. Mr J.A. McGINTY: It is because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Mr M.F. Board: Yes, but why? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that what we are doing is eminently sensible in the light of the fall off in the patronage of this service; that is, we are amalgamating it and transferring the staff into two existing mental health programs for young and adolescent people - the consultation liaison service and the family pathways program - so that all those people who previously accessed that service through the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children will continue to be provided with that service. All that does is recognise that the staff there have minimal face-to-face contact with their clients because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Therefore, we have taken action to maintain the service to make sure it is still provided to those young children between the ages of nought to five and that it is still available so that we have that early intervention in an efficient and productive way, rather than simply doing something because historically it was always done.
Mr P.D. Omodei: This was done under the previous Government. Mr J.A. McGINTY: This is the situation here in Western Australia. I will not detract from the good work done in the time that members opposite were in government. Mr M.F. Board: But you have to keep moving and going, minister. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Sure. The report also states - Stand alone psychiatric beds reduced in number by 74% replaced by new general hospital units. Overall inpatient bed capacity decreased by 9% primarily in the non acute sector. Available inpatient beds 12% greater than the national average but the State has significantly fewer community based residential beds. Overall bed numbers are 6% less than national average. Expansion of general hospital and community based services achieved mainly through a combination of new State funds and savings from reductions in stand alone hospitals. The report continues, but members get the picture. It is true to say that Western Australia in the last decade has put a big effort into mental health. For those who say we lag behind national standards, the various benchmarks applied to mental health indicate that in some areas we could do a lot better, and in other areas, as I have just indicated in quoting from a 2002 report relating to the position up to about 2001, Western Australia occupies a positive position. I am not trying to score any cheap political points here. Efforts made by various Governments over time have contributed over the last decade to an improvement in the provision of mental health services in Western Australia; however, we still have a long way to go. To answer the question from the member for Murdoch, I want to see a lot more effort put into services that really count; that is, into the psychiatric emergency team and into services that will deliver effective end results for people with mental health problems in this community. Mr M.F. Board: Everybody throughout all the States agrees that intervention and prevention, particularly during depression, and particularly with young people, is where the main game is. If we cut programs that intervene in those areas, we will end up with more people trying to occupy mental health beds in hospitals. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: It’s preventive. Mr M.F. Board: It is preventive. The minister knows that an end result can never be shown on day one of a preventive program. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I agree with that in terms of early intervention and preventive programs, and programs that have the objective of caring for people in the community with a mental illness will have my strong support. That is different from saying that those things that do not provide any clinical or nursing support or any immediate services to the mentally unwell should be continued, because, frankly, we need to reorient our spending priorities. I will give the House one example. I have already mentioned the problem at Derbarl Yerrigan, and we are all familiar with that. Some criticism has been made of the family early intervention program run from the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. I have mentioned in this place previously that the number of occasions of service - in other words, the number of people using the service - has fallen dramatically in recent years. In 1999 there were 4 570 occasions of service. In the last financial year, 2002-03, there were 1 907 occasions of service. There has been a dramatic fall off. Consequently, the eight staff employed there spend between only 10 and 28 per cent of their time face to face with clients. That is the direct consequence of that fall off, because the staffing has remained, even though the number of occasions of service has fallen dramatically. Among the eight staff, only a small proportion of their time is spent dealing with their clients face to face. Mr M.F. Board: I would have to find a reason for that. Mr J.A. McGINTY: It is because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Mr M.F. Board: Yes, but why? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that what we are doing is eminently sensible in the light of the fall off in the patronage of this service; that is, we are amalgamating it and transferring the staff into two existing mental health programs for young and adolescent people - the consultation liaison service and the family pathways program - so that all those people who previously accessed that service through the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children will continue to be provided with that service. All that does is recognise that the staff there have minimal face-to-face contact with their clients because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Therefore, we have taken action to maintain the service to make sure it is still provided to those young children between the ages of nought to five and that it is still available so that we have that early intervention in an efficient and productive way, rather than simply doing something because historically it was always done.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: This is the situation here in Western Australia. I will not detract from the good work done in the time that members opposite were in government. Mr M.F. Board: But you have to keep moving and going, minister. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Sure. The report also states - Stand alone psychiatric beds reduced in number by 74% replaced by new general hospital units. Overall inpatient bed capacity decreased by 9% primarily in the non acute sector. Available inpatient beds 12% greater than the national average but the State has significantly fewer community based residential beds. Overall bed numbers are 6% less than national average. Expansion of general hospital and community based services achieved mainly through a combination of new State funds and savings from reductions in stand alone hospitals. The report continues, but members get the picture. It is true to say that Western Australia in the last decade has put a big effort into mental health. For those who say we lag behind national standards, the various benchmarks applied to mental health indicate that in some areas we could do a lot better, and in other areas, as I have just indicated in quoting from a 2002 report relating to the position up to about 2001, Western Australia occupies a positive position. I am not trying to score any cheap political points here. Efforts made by various Governments over time have contributed over the last decade to an improvement in the provision of mental health services in Western Australia; however, we still have a long way to go. To answer the question from the member for Murdoch, I want to see a lot more effort put into services that really count; that is, into the psychiatric emergency team and into services that will deliver effective end results for people with mental health problems in this community. Mr M.F. Board: Everybody throughout all the States agrees that intervention and prevention, particularly during depression, and particularly with young people, is where the main game is. If we cut programs that intervene in those areas, we will end up with more people trying to occupy mental health beds in hospitals. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: It’s preventive. Mr M.F. Board: It is preventive. The minister knows that an end result can never be shown on day one of a preventive program. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I agree with that in terms of early intervention and preventive programs, and programs that have the objective of caring for people in the community with a mental illness will have my strong support. That is different from saying that those things that do not provide any clinical or nursing support or any immediate services to the mentally unwell should be continued, because, frankly, we need to reorient our spending priorities. I will give the House one example. I have already mentioned the problem at Derbarl Yerrigan, and we are all familiar with that. Some criticism has been made of the family early intervention program run from the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. I have mentioned in this place previously that the number of occasions of service - in other words, the number of people using the service - has fallen dramatically in recent years. In 1999 there were 4 570 occasions of service. In the last financial year, 2002-03, there were 1 907 occasions of service. There has been a dramatic fall off. Consequently, the eight staff employed there spend between only 10 and 28 per cent of their time face to face with clients. That is the direct consequence of that fall off, because the staffing has remained, even though the number of occasions of service has fallen dramatically. Among the eight staff, only a small proportion of their time is spent dealing with their clients face to face. Mr M.F. Board: I would have to find a reason for that. Mr J.A. McGINTY: It is because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Mr M.F. Board: Yes, but why? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that what we are doing is eminently sensible in the light of the fall off in the patronage of this service; that is, we are amalgamating it and transferring the staff into two existing mental health programs for young and adolescent people - the consultation liaison service and the family pathways program - so that all those people who previously accessed that service through the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children will continue to be provided with that service. All that does is recognise that the staff there have minimal face-to-face contact with their clients because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Therefore, we have taken action to maintain the service to make sure it is still provided to those young children between the ages of nought to five and that it is still available so that we have that early intervention in an efficient and productive way, rather than simply doing something because historically it was always done.
Mr M.F. Board: But you have to keep moving and going, minister. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Sure. The report also states - Stand alone psychiatric beds reduced in number by 74% replaced by new general hospital units. Overall inpatient bed capacity decreased by 9% primarily in the non acute sector. Available inpatient beds 12% greater than the national average but the State has significantly fewer community based residential beds. Overall bed numbers are 6% less than national average. Expansion of general hospital and community based services achieved mainly through a combination of new State funds and savings from reductions in stand alone hospitals. The report continues, but members get the picture. It is true to say that Western Australia in the last decade has put a big effort into mental health. For those who say we lag behind national standards, the various benchmarks applied to mental health indicate that in some areas we could do a lot better, and in other areas, as I have just indicated in quoting from a 2002 report relating to the position up to about 2001, Western Australia occupies a positive position. I am not trying to score any cheap political points here. Efforts made by various Governments over time have contributed over the last decade to an improvement in the provision of mental health services in Western Australia; however, we still have a long way to go. To answer the question from the member for Murdoch, I want to see a lot more effort put into services that really count; that is, into the psychiatric emergency team and into services that will deliver effective end results for people with mental health problems in this community. Mr M.F. Board: Everybody throughout all the States agrees that intervention and prevention, particularly during depression, and particularly with young people, is where the main game is. If we cut programs that intervene in those areas, we will end up with more people trying to occupy mental health beds in hospitals. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: It’s preventive. Mr M.F. Board: It is preventive. The minister knows that an end result can never be shown on day one of a preventive program. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I agree with that in terms of early intervention and preventive programs, and programs that have the objective of caring for people in the community with a mental illness will have my strong support. That is different from saying that those things that do not provide any clinical or nursing support or any immediate services to the mentally unwell should be continued, because, frankly, we need to reorient our spending priorities. I will give the House one example. I have already mentioned the problem at Derbarl Yerrigan, and we are all familiar with that. Some criticism has been made of the family early intervention program run from the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. I have mentioned in this place previously that the number of occasions of service - in other words, the number of people using the service - has fallen dramatically in recent years. In 1999 there were 4 570 occasions of service. In the last financial year, 2002-03, there were 1 907 occasions of service. There has been a dramatic fall off. Consequently, the eight staff employed there spend between only 10 and 28 per cent of their time face to face with clients. That is the direct consequence of that fall off, because the staffing has remained, even though the number of occasions of service has fallen dramatically. Among the eight staff, only a small proportion of their time is spent dealing with their clients face to face. Mr M.F. Board: I would have to find a reason for that. Mr J.A. McGINTY: It is because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Mr M.F. Board: Yes, but why? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that what we are doing is eminently sensible in the light of the fall off in the patronage of this service; that is, we are amalgamating it and transferring the staff into two existing mental health programs for young and adolescent people - the consultation liaison service and the family pathways program - so that all those people who previously accessed that service through the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children will continue to be provided with that service. All that does is recognise that the staff there have minimal face-to-face contact with their clients because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Therefore, we have taken action to maintain the service to make sure it is still provided to those young children between the ages of nought to five and that it is still available so that we have that early intervention in an efficient and productive way, rather than simply doing something because historically it was always done.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: Sure. The report also states - Stand alone psychiatric beds reduced in number by 74% replaced by new general hospital units. Overall inpatient bed capacity decreased by 9% primarily in the non acute sector. Available inpatient beds 12% greater than the national average but the State has significantly fewer community based residential beds. Overall bed numbers are 6% less than national average. Expansion of general hospital and community based services achieved mainly through a combination of new State funds and savings from reductions in stand alone hospitals. The report continues, but members get the picture. It is true to say that Western Australia in the last decade has put a big effort into mental health. For those who say we lag behind national standards, the various benchmarks applied to mental health indicate that in some areas we could do a lot better, and in other areas, as I have just indicated in quoting from a 2002 report relating to the position up to about 2001, Western Australia occupies a positive position. I am not trying to score any cheap political points here. Efforts made by various Governments over time have contributed over the last decade to an improvement in the provision of mental health services in Western Australia; however, we still have a long way to go. To answer the question from the member for Murdoch, I want to see a lot more effort put into services that really count; that is, into the psychiatric emergency team and into services that will deliver effective end results for people with mental health problems in this community. Mr M.F. Board: Everybody throughout all the States agrees that intervention and prevention, particularly during depression, and particularly with young people, is where the main game is. If we cut programs that intervene in those areas, we will end up with more people trying to occupy mental health beds in hospitals. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: It’s preventive. Mr M.F. Board: It is preventive. The minister knows that an end result can never be shown on day one of a preventive program. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I agree with that in terms of early intervention and preventive programs, and programs that have the objective of caring for people in the community with a mental illness will have my strong support. That is different from saying that those things that do not provide any clinical or nursing support or any immediate services to the mentally unwell should be continued, because, frankly, we need to reorient our spending priorities. I will give the House one example. I have already mentioned the problem at Derbarl Yerrigan, and we are all familiar with that. Some criticism has been made of the family early intervention program run from the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. I have mentioned in this place previously that the number of occasions of service - in other words, the number of people using the service - has fallen dramatically in recent years. In 1999 there were 4 570 occasions of service. In the last financial year, 2002-03, there were 1 907 occasions of service. There has been a dramatic fall off. Consequently, the eight staff employed there spend between only 10 and 28 per cent of their time face to face with clients. That is the direct consequence of that fall off, because the staffing has remained, even though the number of occasions of service has fallen dramatically. Among the eight staff, only a small proportion of their time is spent dealing with their clients face to face. Mr M.F. Board: I would have to find a reason for that. Mr J.A. McGINTY: It is because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Mr M.F. Board: Yes, but why? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that what we are doing is eminently sensible in the light of the fall off in the patronage of this service; that is, we are amalgamating it and transferring the staff into two existing mental health programs for young and adolescent people - the consultation liaison service and the family pathways program - so that all those people who previously accessed that service through the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children will continue to be provided with that service. All that does is recognise that the staff there have minimal face-to-face contact with their clients because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Therefore, we have taken action to maintain the service to make sure it is still provided to those young children between the ages of nought to five and that it is still available so that we have that early intervention in an efficient and productive way, rather than simply doing something because historically it was always done.
Stand alone psychiatric beds reduced in number by 74% replaced by new general hospital units. Overall inpatient bed capacity decreased by 9% primarily in the non acute sector. Available inpatient beds 12% greater than the national average but the State has significantly fewer community based residential beds. Overall bed numbers are 6% less than national average. Expansion of general hospital and community based services achieved mainly through a combination of new State funds and savings from reductions in stand alone hospitals. The report continues, but members get the picture. It is true to say that Western Australia in the last decade has put a big effort into mental health. For those who say we lag behind national standards, the various benchmarks applied to mental health indicate that in some areas we could do a lot better, and in other areas, as I have just indicated in quoting from a 2002 report relating to the position up to about 2001, Western Australia occupies a positive position. I am not trying to score any cheap political points here. Efforts made by various Governments over time have contributed over the last decade to an improvement in the provision of mental health services in Western Australia; however, we still have a long way to go. To answer the question from the member for Murdoch, I want to see a lot more effort put into services that really count; that is, into the psychiatric emergency team and into services that will deliver effective end results for people with mental health problems in this community. Mr M.F. Board: Everybody throughout all the States agrees that intervention and prevention, particularly during depression, and particularly with young people, is where the main game is. If we cut programs that intervene in those areas, we will end up with more people trying to occupy mental health beds in hospitals. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: It’s preventive. Mr M.F. Board: It is preventive. The minister knows that an end result can never be shown on day one of a preventive program. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I agree with that in terms of early intervention and preventive programs, and programs that have the objective of caring for people in the community with a mental illness will have my strong support. That is different from saying that those things that do not provide any clinical or nursing support or any immediate services to the mentally unwell should be continued, because, frankly, we need to reorient our spending priorities. I will give the House one example. I have already mentioned the problem at Derbarl Yerrigan, and we are all familiar with that. Some criticism has been made of the family early intervention program run from the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. I have mentioned in this place previously that the number of occasions of service - in other words, the number of people using the service - has fallen dramatically in recent years. In 1999 there were 4 570 occasions of service. In the last financial year, 2002-03, there were 1 907 occasions of service. There has been a dramatic fall off. Consequently, the eight staff employed there spend between only 10 and 28 per cent of their time face to face with clients. That is the direct consequence of that fall off, because the staffing has remained, even though the number of occasions of service has fallen dramatically. Among the eight staff, only a small proportion of their time is spent dealing with their clients face to face. Mr M.F. Board: I would have to find a reason for that. Mr J.A. McGINTY: It is because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Mr M.F. Board: Yes, but why? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that what we are doing is eminently sensible in the light of the fall off in the patronage of this service; that is, we are amalgamating it and transferring the staff into two existing mental health programs for young and adolescent people - the consultation liaison service and the family pathways program - so that all those people who previously accessed that service through the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children will continue to be provided with that service. All that does is recognise that the staff there have minimal face-to-face contact with their clients because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Therefore, we have taken action to maintain the service to make sure it is still provided to those young children between the ages of nought to five and that it is still available so that we have that early intervention in an efficient and productive way, rather than simply doing something because historically it was always done.
Available inpatient beds 12% greater than the national average but the State has significantly fewer community based residential beds. Overall bed numbers are 6% less than national average. Expansion of general hospital and community based services achieved mainly through a combination of new State funds and savings from reductions in stand alone hospitals. The report continues, but members get the picture. It is true to say that Western Australia in the last decade has put a big effort into mental health. For those who say we lag behind national standards, the various benchmarks applied to mental health indicate that in some areas we could do a lot better, and in other areas, as I have just indicated in quoting from a 2002 report relating to the position up to about 2001, Western Australia occupies a positive position. I am not trying to score any cheap political points here. Efforts made by various Governments over time have contributed over the last decade to an improvement in the provision of mental health services in Western Australia; however, we still have a long way to go. To answer the question from the member for Murdoch, I want to see a lot more effort put into services that really count; that is, into the psychiatric emergency team and into services that will deliver effective end results for people with mental health problems in this community. Mr M.F. Board: Everybody throughout all the States agrees that intervention and prevention, particularly during depression, and particularly with young people, is where the main game is. If we cut programs that intervene in those areas, we will end up with more people trying to occupy mental health beds in hospitals. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: It’s preventive. Mr M.F. Board: It is preventive. The minister knows that an end result can never be shown on day one of a preventive program. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I agree with that in terms of early intervention and preventive programs, and programs that have the objective of caring for people in the community with a mental illness will have my strong support. That is different from saying that those things that do not provide any clinical or nursing support or any immediate services to the mentally unwell should be continued, because, frankly, we need to reorient our spending priorities. I will give the House one example. I have already mentioned the problem at Derbarl Yerrigan, and we are all familiar with that. Some criticism has been made of the family early intervention program run from the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. I have mentioned in this place previously that the number of occasions of service - in other words, the number of people using the service - has fallen dramatically in recent years. In 1999 there were 4 570 occasions of service. In the last financial year, 2002-03, there were 1 907 occasions of service. There has been a dramatic fall off. Consequently, the eight staff employed there spend between only 10 and 28 per cent of their time face to face with clients. That is the direct consequence of that fall off, because the staffing has remained, even though the number of occasions of service has fallen dramatically. Among the eight staff, only a small proportion of their time is spent dealing with their clients face to face. Mr M.F. Board: I would have to find a reason for that. Mr J.A. McGINTY: It is because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Mr M.F. Board: Yes, but why? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that what we are doing is eminently sensible in the light of the fall off in the patronage of this service; that is, we are amalgamating it and transferring the staff into two existing mental health programs for young and adolescent people - the consultation liaison service and the family pathways program - so that all those people who previously accessed that service through the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children will continue to be provided with that service. All that does is recognise that the staff there have minimal face-to-face contact with their clients because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Therefore, we have taken action to maintain the service to make sure it is still provided to those young children between the ages of nought to five and that it is still available so that we have that early intervention in an efficient and productive way, rather than simply doing something because historically it was always done.
Expansion of general hospital and community based services achieved mainly through a combination of new State funds and savings from reductions in stand alone hospitals. The report continues, but members get the picture. It is true to say that Western Australia in the last decade has put a big effort into mental health. For those who say we lag behind national standards, the various benchmarks applied to mental health indicate that in some areas we could do a lot better, and in other areas, as I have just indicated in quoting from a 2002 report relating to the position up to about 2001, Western Australia occupies a positive position. I am not trying to score any cheap political points here. Efforts made by various Governments over time have contributed over the last decade to an improvement in the provision of mental health services in Western Australia; however, we still have a long way to go. To answer the question from the member for Murdoch, I want to see a lot more effort put into services that really count; that is, into the psychiatric emergency team and into services that will deliver effective end results for people with mental health problems in this community. Mr M.F. Board: Everybody throughout all the States agrees that intervention and prevention, particularly during depression, and particularly with young people, is where the main game is. If we cut programs that intervene in those areas, we will end up with more people trying to occupy mental health beds in hospitals. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: It’s preventive. Mr M.F. Board: It is preventive. The minister knows that an end result can never be shown on day one of a preventive program. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I agree with that in terms of early intervention and preventive programs, and programs that have the objective of caring for people in the community with a mental illness will have my strong support. That is different from saying that those things that do not provide any clinical or nursing support or any immediate services to the mentally unwell should be continued, because, frankly, we need to reorient our spending priorities. I will give the House one example. I have already mentioned the problem at Derbarl Yerrigan, and we are all familiar with that. Some criticism has been made of the family early intervention program run from the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. I have mentioned in this place previously that the number of occasions of service - in other words, the number of people using the service - has fallen dramatically in recent years. In 1999 there were 4 570 occasions of service. In the last financial year, 2002-03, there were 1 907 occasions of service. There has been a dramatic fall off. Consequently, the eight staff employed there spend between only 10 and 28 per cent of their time face to face with clients. That is the direct consequence of that fall off, because the staffing has remained, even though the number of occasions of service has fallen dramatically. Among the eight staff, only a small proportion of their time is spent dealing with their clients face to face. Mr M.F. Board: I would have to find a reason for that. Mr J.A. McGINTY: It is because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Mr M.F. Board: Yes, but why? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that what we are doing is eminently sensible in the light of the fall off in the patronage of this service; that is, we are amalgamating it and transferring the staff into two existing mental health programs for young and adolescent people - the consultation liaison service and the family pathways program - so that all those people who previously accessed that service through the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children will continue to be provided with that service. All that does is recognise that the staff there have minimal face-to-face contact with their clients because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Therefore, we have taken action to maintain the service to make sure it is still provided to those young children between the ages of nought to five and that it is still available so that we have that early intervention in an efficient and productive way, rather than simply doing something because historically it was always done.
The report continues, but members get the picture. It is true to say that Western Australia in the last decade has put a big effort into mental health. For those who say we lag behind national standards, the various benchmarks applied to mental health indicate that in some areas we could do a lot better, and in other areas, as I have just indicated in quoting from a 2002 report relating to the position up to about 2001, Western Australia occupies a positive position. I am not trying to score any cheap political points here. Efforts made by various Governments over time have contributed over the last decade to an improvement in the provision of mental health services in Western Australia; however, we still have a long way to go. To answer the question from the member for Murdoch, I want to see a lot more effort put into services that really count; that is, into the psychiatric emergency team and into services that will deliver effective end results for people with mental health problems in this community. Mr M.F. Board: Everybody throughout all the States agrees that intervention and prevention, particularly during depression, and particularly with young people, is where the main game is. If we cut programs that intervene in those areas, we will end up with more people trying to occupy mental health beds in hospitals. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: It’s preventive. Mr M.F. Board: It is preventive. The minister knows that an end result can never be shown on day one of a preventive program. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I agree with that in terms of early intervention and preventive programs, and programs that have the objective of caring for people in the community with a mental illness will have my strong support. That is different from saying that those things that do not provide any clinical or nursing support or any immediate services to the mentally unwell should be continued, because, frankly, we need to reorient our spending priorities. I will give the House one example. I have already mentioned the problem at Derbarl Yerrigan, and we are all familiar with that. Some criticism has been made of the family early intervention program run from the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. I have mentioned in this place previously that the number of occasions of service - in other words, the number of people using the service - has fallen dramatically in recent years. In 1999 there were 4 570 occasions of service. In the last financial year, 2002-03, there were 1 907 occasions of service. There has been a dramatic fall off. Consequently, the eight staff employed there spend between only 10 and 28 per cent of their time face to face with clients. That is the direct consequence of that fall off, because the staffing has remained, even though the number of occasions of service has fallen dramatically. Among the eight staff, only a small proportion of their time is spent dealing with their clients face to face. Mr M.F. Board: I would have to find a reason for that. Mr J.A. McGINTY: It is because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Mr M.F. Board: Yes, but why? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that what we are doing is eminently sensible in the light of the fall off in the patronage of this service; that is, we are amalgamating it and transferring the staff into two existing mental health programs for young and adolescent people - the consultation liaison service and the family pathways program - so that all those people who previously accessed that service through the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children will continue to be provided with that service. All that does is recognise that the staff there have minimal face-to-face contact with their clients because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Therefore, we have taken action to maintain the service to make sure it is still provided to those young children between the ages of nought to five and that it is still available so that we have that early intervention in an efficient and productive way, rather than simply doing something because historically it was always done.
To answer the question from the member for Murdoch, I want to see a lot more effort put into services that really count; that is, into the psychiatric emergency team and into services that will deliver effective end results for people with mental health problems in this community. Mr M.F. Board: Everybody throughout all the States agrees that intervention and prevention, particularly during depression, and particularly with young people, is where the main game is. If we cut programs that intervene in those areas, we will end up with more people trying to occupy mental health beds in hospitals. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: It’s preventive. Mr M.F. Board: It is preventive. The minister knows that an end result can never be shown on day one of a preventive program. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I agree with that in terms of early intervention and preventive programs, and programs that have the objective of caring for people in the community with a mental illness will have my strong support. That is different from saying that those things that do not provide any clinical or nursing support or any immediate services to the mentally unwell should be continued, because, frankly, we need to reorient our spending priorities. I will give the House one example. I have already mentioned the problem at Derbarl Yerrigan, and we are all familiar with that. Some criticism has been made of the family early intervention program run from the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. I have mentioned in this place previously that the number of occasions of service - in other words, the number of people using the service - has fallen dramatically in recent years. In 1999 there were 4 570 occasions of service. In the last financial year, 2002-03, there were 1 907 occasions of service. There has been a dramatic fall off. Consequently, the eight staff employed there spend between only 10 and 28 per cent of their time face to face with clients. That is the direct consequence of that fall off, because the staffing has remained, even though the number of occasions of service has fallen dramatically. Among the eight staff, only a small proportion of their time is spent dealing with their clients face to face. Mr M.F. Board: I would have to find a reason for that. Mr J.A. McGINTY: It is because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Mr M.F. Board: Yes, but why? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that what we are doing is eminently sensible in the light of the fall off in the patronage of this service; that is, we are amalgamating it and transferring the staff into two existing mental health programs for young and adolescent people - the consultation liaison service and the family pathways program - so that all those people who previously accessed that service through the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children will continue to be provided with that service. All that does is recognise that the staff there have minimal face-to-face contact with their clients because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Therefore, we have taken action to maintain the service to make sure it is still provided to those young children between the ages of nought to five and that it is still available so that we have that early intervention in an efficient and productive way, rather than simply doing something because historically it was always done.
Mr M.F. Board: Everybody throughout all the States agrees that intervention and prevention, particularly during depression, and particularly with young people, is where the main game is. If we cut programs that intervene in those areas, we will end up with more people trying to occupy mental health beds in hospitals. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: It’s preventive. Mr M.F. Board: It is preventive. The minister knows that an end result can never be shown on day one of a preventive program. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I agree with that in terms of early intervention and preventive programs, and programs that have the objective of caring for people in the community with a mental illness will have my strong support. That is different from saying that those things that do not provide any clinical or nursing support or any immediate services to the mentally unwell should be continued, because, frankly, we need to reorient our spending priorities. I will give the House one example. I have already mentioned the problem at Derbarl Yerrigan, and we are all familiar with that. Some criticism has been made of the family early intervention program run from the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. I have mentioned in this place previously that the number of occasions of service - in other words, the number of people using the service - has fallen dramatically in recent years. In 1999 there were 4 570 occasions of service. In the last financial year, 2002-03, there were 1 907 occasions of service. There has been a dramatic fall off. Consequently, the eight staff employed there spend between only 10 and 28 per cent of their time face to face with clients. That is the direct consequence of that fall off, because the staffing has remained, even though the number of occasions of service has fallen dramatically. Among the eight staff, only a small proportion of their time is spent dealing with their clients face to face. Mr M.F. Board: I would have to find a reason for that. Mr J.A. McGINTY: It is because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Mr M.F. Board: Yes, but why? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that what we are doing is eminently sensible in the light of the fall off in the patronage of this service; that is, we are amalgamating it and transferring the staff into two existing mental health programs for young and adolescent people - the consultation liaison service and the family pathways program - so that all those people who previously accessed that service through the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children will continue to be provided with that service. All that does is recognise that the staff there have minimal face-to-face contact with their clients because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Therefore, we have taken action to maintain the service to make sure it is still provided to those young children between the ages of nought to five and that it is still available so that we have that early intervention in an efficient and productive way, rather than simply doing something because historically it was always done.
Mrs C.L. Edwardes: It’s preventive. Mr M.F. Board: It is preventive. The minister knows that an end result can never be shown on day one of a preventive program. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I agree with that in terms of early intervention and preventive programs, and programs that have the objective of caring for people in the community with a mental illness will have my strong support. That is different from saying that those things that do not provide any clinical or nursing support or any immediate services to the mentally unwell should be continued, because, frankly, we need to reorient our spending priorities. I will give the House one example. I have already mentioned the problem at Derbarl Yerrigan, and we are all familiar with that. Some criticism has been made of the family early intervention program run from the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. I have mentioned in this place previously that the number of occasions of service - in other words, the number of people using the service - has fallen dramatically in recent years. In 1999 there were 4 570 occasions of service. In the last financial year, 2002-03, there were 1 907 occasions of service. There has been a dramatic fall off. Consequently, the eight staff employed there spend between only 10 and 28 per cent of their time face to face with clients. That is the direct consequence of that fall off, because the staffing has remained, even though the number of occasions of service has fallen dramatically. Among the eight staff, only a small proportion of their time is spent dealing with their clients face to face. Mr M.F. Board: I would have to find a reason for that. Mr J.A. McGINTY: It is because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Mr M.F. Board: Yes, but why? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that what we are doing is eminently sensible in the light of the fall off in the patronage of this service; that is, we are amalgamating it and transferring the staff into two existing mental health programs for young and adolescent people - the consultation liaison service and the family pathways program - so that all those people who previously accessed that service through the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children will continue to be provided with that service. All that does is recognise that the staff there have minimal face-to-face contact with their clients because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Therefore, we have taken action to maintain the service to make sure it is still provided to those young children between the ages of nought to five and that it is still available so that we have that early intervention in an efficient and productive way, rather than simply doing something because historically it was always done.
Mr M.F. Board: It is preventive. The minister knows that an end result can never be shown on day one of a preventive program. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I agree with that in terms of early intervention and preventive programs, and programs that have the objective of caring for people in the community with a mental illness will have my strong support. That is different from saying that those things that do not provide any clinical or nursing support or any immediate services to the mentally unwell should be continued, because, frankly, we need to reorient our spending priorities. I will give the House one example. I have already mentioned the problem at Derbarl Yerrigan, and we are all familiar with that. Some criticism has been made of the family early intervention program run from the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. I have mentioned in this place previously that the number of occasions of service - in other words, the number of people using the service - has fallen dramatically in recent years. In 1999 there were 4 570 occasions of service. In the last financial year, 2002-03, there were 1 907 occasions of service. There has been a dramatic fall off. Consequently, the eight staff employed there spend between only 10 and 28 per cent of their time face to face with clients. That is the direct consequence of that fall off, because the staffing has remained, even though the number of occasions of service has fallen dramatically. Among the eight staff, only a small proportion of their time is spent dealing with their clients face to face. Mr M.F. Board: I would have to find a reason for that. Mr J.A. McGINTY: It is because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Mr M.F. Board: Yes, but why? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that what we are doing is eminently sensible in the light of the fall off in the patronage of this service; that is, we are amalgamating it and transferring the staff into two existing mental health programs for young and adolescent people - the consultation liaison service and the family pathways program - so that all those people who previously accessed that service through the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children will continue to be provided with that service. All that does is recognise that the staff there have minimal face-to-face contact with their clients because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Therefore, we have taken action to maintain the service to make sure it is still provided to those young children between the ages of nought to five and that it is still available so that we have that early intervention in an efficient and productive way, rather than simply doing something because historically it was always done.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: I agree with that in terms of early intervention and preventive programs, and programs that have the objective of caring for people in the community with a mental illness will have my strong support. That is different from saying that those things that do not provide any clinical or nursing support or any immediate services to the mentally unwell should be continued, because, frankly, we need to reorient our spending priorities. I will give the House one example. I have already mentioned the problem at Derbarl Yerrigan, and we are all familiar with that. Some criticism has been made of the family early intervention program run from the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. I have mentioned in this place previously that the number of occasions of service - in other words, the number of people using the service - has fallen dramatically in recent years. In 1999 there were 4 570 occasions of service. In the last financial year, 2002-03, there were 1 907 occasions of service. There has been a dramatic fall off. Consequently, the eight staff employed there spend between only 10 and 28 per cent of their time face to face with clients. That is the direct consequence of that fall off, because the staffing has remained, even though the number of occasions of service has fallen dramatically. Among the eight staff, only a small proportion of their time is spent dealing with their clients face to face. Mr M.F. Board: I would have to find a reason for that. Mr J.A. McGINTY: It is because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Mr M.F. Board: Yes, but why? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that what we are doing is eminently sensible in the light of the fall off in the patronage of this service; that is, we are amalgamating it and transferring the staff into two existing mental health programs for young and adolescent people - the consultation liaison service and the family pathways program - so that all those people who previously accessed that service through the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children will continue to be provided with that service. All that does is recognise that the staff there have minimal face-to-face contact with their clients because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Therefore, we have taken action to maintain the service to make sure it is still provided to those young children between the ages of nought to five and that it is still available so that we have that early intervention in an efficient and productive way, rather than simply doing something because historically it was always done.
Mr M.F. Board: I would have to find a reason for that. Mr J.A. McGINTY: It is because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Mr M.F. Board: Yes, but why? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that what we are doing is eminently sensible in the light of the fall off in the patronage of this service; that is, we are amalgamating it and transferring the staff into two existing mental health programs for young and adolescent people - the consultation liaison service and the family pathways program - so that all those people who previously accessed that service through the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children will continue to be provided with that service. All that does is recognise that the staff there have minimal face-to-face contact with their clients because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Therefore, we have taken action to maintain the service to make sure it is still provided to those young children between the ages of nought to five and that it is still available so that we have that early intervention in an efficient and productive way, rather than simply doing something because historically it was always done.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: It is because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Mr M.F. Board: Yes, but why? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that what we are doing is eminently sensible in the light of the fall off in the patronage of this service; that is, we are amalgamating it and transferring the staff into two existing mental health programs for young and adolescent people - the consultation liaison service and the family pathways program - so that all those people who previously accessed that service through the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children will continue to be provided with that service. All that does is recognise that the staff there have minimal face-to-face contact with their clients because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Therefore, we have taken action to maintain the service to make sure it is still provided to those young children between the ages of nought to five and that it is still available so that we have that early intervention in an efficient and productive way, rather than simply doing something because historically it was always done.
Mr M.F. Board: Yes, but why? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that what we are doing is eminently sensible in the light of the fall off in the patronage of this service; that is, we are amalgamating it and transferring the staff into two existing mental health programs for young and adolescent people - the consultation liaison service and the family pathways program - so that all those people who previously accessed that service through the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children will continue to be provided with that service. All that does is recognise that the staff there have minimal face-to-face contact with their clients because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Therefore, we have taken action to maintain the service to make sure it is still provided to those young children between the ages of nought to five and that it is still available so that we have that early intervention in an efficient and productive way, rather than simply doing something because historically it was always done.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that what we are doing is eminently sensible in the light of the fall off in the patronage of this service; that is, we are amalgamating it and transferring the staff into two existing mental health programs for young and adolescent people - the consultation liaison service and the family pathways program - so that all those people who previously accessed that service through the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children will continue to be provided with that service. All that does is recognise that the staff there have minimal face-to-face contact with their clients because the number of occasions of service has fallen. Therefore, we have taken action to maintain the service to make sure it is still provided to those young children between the ages of nought to five and that it is still available so that we have that early intervention in an efficient and productive way, rather than simply doing something because historically it was always done.
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