❓ A WA parliamentary question highlights the lack of a child psychologist in the South West CAMHS and questions the appropriateness of current referral pathways and emergency department support for children needing urgent mental health services. The response indicates a psychologist has been recruited and addresses emergency care protocols, but is unable to provide specific referral data due to resource constraints.
AnsweredQoN 128Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
HEALTH — CHILD PSYCHOLOGISTS —
SOUTH WEST REGION
128. Hon ADELE FARINA to the
parliamentary secretary representing the Minister for Health:
I refer to the minister's
answer to question on notice 3494 asked on 1 October 2015 and the minister's
answer to question without notice 91 asked on Tuesday, 23 February 2016.
(1) The minister
stated in his answer to question without notice 91 asked yesterday the
following —
For an urgent response, a patient or
their carer can contact the south west child and adolescent mental health
service or present to any south west emergency department.
What is the point of presenting to
south west CAMHS for urgent psychology services when it has not had a clinical
child psychologist since December 2013 and is referring patients to non-urgent
service providers?
(2) Which south
west emergency departments have a clinical child psychologist on hand for urgent
psychology services?
(3) In the last
12 months how many children under the age of 18 years resident in the south
west have been referred to non-urgent service providers?
(4) In the last
12 months how many children under the age of 18 years resident in the south
west have been psychologically assessed using e-health facilities?
SOUTH WEST REGION
128. Hon ADELE FARINA to the
parliamentary secretary representing the Minister for Health:
I refer to the minister's
answer to question on notice 3494 asked on 1 October 2015 and the minister's
answer to question without notice 91 asked on Tuesday, 23 February 2016.
(1) The minister
stated in his answer to question without notice 91 asked yesterday the
following —
For an urgent response, a patient or
their carer can contact the south west child and adolescent mental health
service or present to any south west emergency department.
What is the point of presenting to
south west CAMHS for urgent psychology services when it has not had a clinical
child psychologist since December 2013 and is referring patients to non-urgent
service providers?
(2) Which south
west emergency departments have a clinical child psychologist on hand for urgent
psychology services?
(3) In the last
12 months how many children under the age of 18 years resident in the south
west have been referred to non-urgent service providers?
(4) In the last
12 months how many children under the age of 18 years resident in the south
west have been psychologically assessed using e-health facilities?
AnswerView source ↗
On behalf of the parliamentary
secretary representing the Minister for Health, I thank the member for some
notice of this question. The following information has been provided to me by
the Minister for Health —
(1) Any mental
health consumer who presents to CAMHS will be triaged, assessed and appropriate
interventions organised. CAMHS is guided by the individual needs of the client
that have been identified in the assessment, and if referral is required, it
will be to the most appropriate agency. Referral may be to public or private
options, such as a general practitioner, private provider or an agency like
headspace. It is noteworthy that a clinical psychologist for the CAMHS program
in the south west has been recruited and is scheduled to commence on 4 April
2016.
(2) Emergency
departments across Western Australia provide emergency and urgent care 24 hours
a day, seven days per week. The emergency department can access RuralLink 24/7
for specialised mental health telephone advice and/or liaise with the regional
mental health service.
(3) The WA
Country Health Service has advised it is unable to supply this information at
short notice as this would require significant resources to manually review
each relevant patient file to determine this information. It is estimated it
would take in excess of four weeks to review each patient file and staff would
need to be diverted from core duties to undertake this audit.
(4) Nil.
secretary representing the Minister for Health, I thank the member for some
notice of this question. The following information has been provided to me by
the Minister for Health —
(1) Any mental
health consumer who presents to CAMHS will be triaged, assessed and appropriate
interventions organised. CAMHS is guided by the individual needs of the client
that have been identified in the assessment, and if referral is required, it
will be to the most appropriate agency. Referral may be to public or private
options, such as a general practitioner, private provider or an agency like
headspace. It is noteworthy that a clinical psychologist for the CAMHS program
in the south west has been recruited and is scheduled to commence on 4 April
2016.
(2) Emergency
departments across Western Australia provide emergency and urgent care 24 hours
a day, seven days per week. The emergency department can access RuralLink 24/7
for specialised mental health telephone advice and/or liaise with the regional
mental health service.
(3) The WA
Country Health Service has advised it is unable to supply this information at
short notice as this would require significant resources to manually review
each relevant patient file to determine this information. It is estimated it
would take in excess of four weeks to review each patient file and staff would
need to be diverted from core duties to undertake this audit.
(4) Nil.
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