❓ Ljiljanna Ravlich questions the Minister for Mental Health about the restructure of the south metropolitan emergency response team, particularly regarding the relocation of the Armadale team to Bentley. The Minister's response is somewhat evasive and defensive.
AnsweredQoN 301Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
COMMUNITY
EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAMS
301. Hon LJILJANNA RAVLICH to
the Minister for Mental Health:
I refer to the proposed restructure
of the south metropolitan emergency response team.
(1) Is it true
that there will now be four community emergency response team bases but the
Armadale team will be moved to Bentley until 2013?
(2) Can the
minister explain on what basis the Armadale team is being moved to Bentley
until 2013?
(3) Does the
minister share the concerns of consumers and staff that having the Armadale
team based at Bentley will cause delays in response time; and, if not, can she
explain why?
(4) Who did the
minister consult about the restructure of the south metropolitan emergency
response team?
EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAMS
301. Hon LJILJANNA RAVLICH to
the Minister for Mental Health:
I refer to the proposed restructure
of the south metropolitan emergency response team.
(1) Is it true
that there will now be four community emergency response team bases but the
Armadale team will be moved to Bentley until 2013?
(2) Can the
minister explain on what basis the Armadale team is being moved to Bentley
until 2013?
(3) Does the
minister share the concerns of consumers and staff that having the Armadale
team based at Bentley will cause delays in response time; and, if not, can she
explain why?
(4) Who did the
minister consult about the restructure of the south metropolitan emergency
response team?
AnswerView source ↗
I do not have a copy of that
question so I will just have a conversation about it.
(1) I understand
that there will be four bases—one each at Fremantle, Armadale and
Bentley, and I cannot remember the other one. This whole thing is a very good
outcome. It is precisely what we were looking for from people. There will not
be a single CERT based at a telephone answering service. We should look at what
Coroner Hope said about a case in Armadale and how the CERT participated or did
not participate in that. Even though it was within 10 minutes of the case in
question, it did not go out to the person's home. It is very clear that
we cannot continue to operate a community emergency response team that is more
akin to a telephone service than a service that gets out on the ground and
provides intensive emergency services to people who require them, either as
they become ill or once they have been discharged from hospital. It needs to be
based out on the ground. The team will be made up of more staff than currently
exist. The total team will be made up of 14.5 FTEs. More nurses will be
involved than are currently. A variety of other positions will be involved. The
overall approach to this is to provide a far better service, community
assessment and intensive treatment service to people at high risk in the
community. All in all, this is precisely the sort of approach that I was looking
for to make the community mental health services more responsive to an acute
level of care within the community.
(2) I cannot
remember off the top of my head why the Armadale team is being moved to Bentley
but I understand that it is a temporary arrangement. I will check that out. I
have some speaking notes here but I do not have time to read them all to the
member.
(3) I do not
share the concerns of consumers and staff that having the Armadale team based
at Bentley will cause delays in response teams because at the moment those
teams are running that service in the same way. They are based at one or the
other; they are not based at each service. The response times of that service
will not be much different, if any different.
(4) At the time
that I first had discussions about the restructure, the people who came to talk
to me about it in my ministerial office included the clinical director, Dr
Elizabeth Moore —
Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich : When was that?
Hon HELEN MORTON : I cannot remember off the top of my
head. If the member wants to get precise information like that, she needs to
give me at least half an hour's notice. I cannot remember dates like
that off the top of my head. I know it was months ago. It is probably not in
time for the member to be able to suggest that I misled Parliament because of
the question that she asked back in July or whatever the time frame is that she
is trying to catch me out on. The member should not worry; we all monitor that
stuff. If the member wants specific details about that, she should give me a
bit of notice and I will provide it to her. She will have to try a whole lot
harder to try to catch me out on something like that.
question so I will just have a conversation about it.
(1) I understand
that there will be four bases—one each at Fremantle, Armadale and
Bentley, and I cannot remember the other one. This whole thing is a very good
outcome. It is precisely what we were looking for from people. There will not
be a single CERT based at a telephone answering service. We should look at what
Coroner Hope said about a case in Armadale and how the CERT participated or did
not participate in that. Even though it was within 10 minutes of the case in
question, it did not go out to the person's home. It is very clear that
we cannot continue to operate a community emergency response team that is more
akin to a telephone service than a service that gets out on the ground and
provides intensive emergency services to people who require them, either as
they become ill or once they have been discharged from hospital. It needs to be
based out on the ground. The team will be made up of more staff than currently
exist. The total team will be made up of 14.5 FTEs. More nurses will be
involved than are currently. A variety of other positions will be involved. The
overall approach to this is to provide a far better service, community
assessment and intensive treatment service to people at high risk in the
community. All in all, this is precisely the sort of approach that I was looking
for to make the community mental health services more responsive to an acute
level of care within the community.
(2) I cannot
remember off the top of my head why the Armadale team is being moved to Bentley
but I understand that it is a temporary arrangement. I will check that out. I
have some speaking notes here but I do not have time to read them all to the
member.
(3) I do not
share the concerns of consumers and staff that having the Armadale team based
at Bentley will cause delays in response teams because at the moment those
teams are running that service in the same way. They are based at one or the
other; they are not based at each service. The response times of that service
will not be much different, if any different.
(4) At the time
that I first had discussions about the restructure, the people who came to talk
to me about it in my ministerial office included the clinical director, Dr
Elizabeth Moore —
Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich : When was that?
Hon HELEN MORTON : I cannot remember off the top of my
head. If the member wants to get precise information like that, she needs to
give me at least half an hour's notice. I cannot remember dates like
that off the top of my head. I know it was months ago. It is probably not in
time for the member to be able to suggest that I misled Parliament because of
the question that she asked back in July or whatever the time frame is that she
is trying to catch me out on. The member should not worry; we all monitor that
stuff. If the member wants specific details about that, she should give me a
bit of notice and I will provide it to her. She will have to try a whole lot
harder to try to catch me out on something like that.
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