❓ The Minister for Health outlines a series of mental health initiatives, including funding for community-based beds, specialist teams in emergency departments, staff safety improvements, and an electronic clinical information system, totaling $90 million.
AnsweredQoN 570Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
The Government has announced a series of initiatives in recent months for mental health. Could the minister outline how these initiatives will improve the State’s mental health services? Mr J.A. McGINTY
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Southern River for the question. I am pleased to announce that at the weekend the Premier and I unveiled $63.2 million to build an extra 420 community-based beds for mental health patients across Western Australia over the next two years. The program will almost double the number of community beds available for people with mental illness. This commitment follows the $23.6 million plan to establish specialist mental health teams and beds in hospital emergency departments. This latest initiative in community housing involves $37.85 million going towards the capital works, $9.5 million for funding operating costs and $15.85 million for Department of Health land. The strategy targets people in the community with various levels of mental illness. The expansion of services will begin this financial year with the construction of new homes due to start in 2005. The initiative will ease pressure on Western Australia’s public hospitals. Many people with mental illnesses who are occupying acute inpatient beds in hospitals would not necessarily need that level of care if community beds were available for them. Many others would not be admitted to hospital if they had appropriate accommodation and care in the community. The increase in services will also reduce pressure on families and carers of people with mental health problems. As part of the Government’s mental health strategy, the Government will also spend $2 million to increase safety for mental health staff, which will go towards increasing personal protection of staff by upgrading the use and availability of personal duress alarms; upgrading safety of inpatient units by installing viewing panels in observation rooms, portable duress alarms in wards and controlling access to officers; increasing the number of mobile phones for community mental health staff so that they have fast access to assistance when emergencies arise; boosting education and training in key areas of competency, including assessment, risk assessment and dealing with aggression; and ensuring mental health services will be fully compliant with all WorkSafe orders. In addition to that, $2 million will be spent on the electronic mental health clinical information system known as PSOLIS, which will be the first integrated electronic mental health clinical information system in Western Australia. This system will provide doctors, mental health nurses and allied health staff with the patient’s complete medical and psychiatric history, including diagnosis, details of all prior hospitalisation and treatment, clinical indicators, current medications, family supports, clinical risks, current management plans, crisis plans, general practitioner information and what treatments they are currently receiving. PSOLIS has been developed to provide immediate information on all conditions to assist them with day-to-day clinical decision making. With demand for mental health services being the fastest growing area of the health system, it is vital that we tackle the issue with such strategies as those I have just outlined. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: Order! Mr J.A. McGINTY: That is an extra $90 million for mental health initiatives so far announced as part of the strategy.
Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: I thank the member for Southern River for the question. I am pleased to announce that at the weekend the Premier and I unveiled $63.2 million to build an extra 420 community-based beds for mental health patients across Western Australia over the next two years. The program will almost double the number of community beds available for people with mental illness. This commitment follows the $23.6 million plan to establish specialist mental health teams and beds in hospital emergency departments. This latest initiative in community housing involves $37.85 million going towards the capital works, $9.5 million for funding operating costs and $15.85 million for Department of Health land. The strategy targets people in the community with various levels of mental illness. The expansion of services will begin this financial year with the construction of new homes due to start in 2005. The initiative will ease pressure on Western Australia’s public hospitals. Many people with mental illnesses who are occupying acute inpatient beds in hospitals would not necessarily need that level of care if community beds were available for them. Many others would not be admitted to hospital if they had appropriate accommodation and care in the community. The increase in services will also reduce pressure on families and carers of people with mental health problems. As part of the Government’s mental health strategy, the Government will also spend $2 million to increase safety for mental health staff, which will go towards increasing personal protection of staff by upgrading the use and availability of personal duress alarms; upgrading safety of inpatient units by installing viewing panels in observation rooms, portable duress alarms in wards and controlling access to officers; increasing the number of mobile phones for community mental health staff so that they have fast access to assistance when emergencies arise; boosting education and training in key areas of competency, including assessment, risk assessment and dealing with aggression; and ensuring mental health services will be fully compliant with all WorkSafe orders. In addition to that, $2 million will be spent on the electronic mental health clinical information system known as PSOLIS, which will be the first integrated electronic mental health clinical information system in Western Australia. This system will provide doctors, mental health nurses and allied health staff with the patient’s complete medical and psychiatric history, including diagnosis, details of all prior hospitalisation and treatment, clinical indicators, current medications, family supports, clinical risks, current management plans, crisis plans, general practitioner information and what treatments they are currently receiving. PSOLIS has been developed to provide immediate information on all conditions to assist them with day-to-day clinical decision making. With demand for mental health services being the fastest growing area of the health system, it is vital that we tackle the issue with such strategies as those I have just outlined. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: Order! Mr J.A. McGINTY: That is an extra $90 million for mental health initiatives so far announced as part of the strategy.
I thank the member for Southern River for the question. I am pleased to announce that at the weekend the Premier and I unveiled $63.2 million to build an extra 420 community-based beds for mental health patients across Western Australia over the next two years. The program will almost double the number of community beds available for people with mental illness. This commitment follows the $23.6 million plan to establish specialist mental health teams and beds in hospital emergency departments. This latest initiative in community housing involves $37.85 million going towards the capital works, $9.5 million for funding operating costs and $15.85 million for Department of Health land. The strategy targets people in the community with various levels of mental illness. The expansion of services will begin this financial year with the construction of new homes due to start in 2005. The initiative will ease pressure on Western Australia’s public hospitals. Many people with mental illnesses who are occupying acute inpatient beds in hospitals would not necessarily need that level of care if community beds were available for them. Many others would not be admitted to hospital if they had appropriate accommodation and care in the community. The increase in services will also reduce pressure on families and carers of people with mental health problems. As part of the Government’s mental health strategy, the Government will also spend $2 million to increase safety for mental health staff, which will go towards increasing personal protection of staff by upgrading the use and availability of personal duress alarms; upgrading safety of inpatient units by installing viewing panels in observation rooms, portable duress alarms in wards and controlling access to officers; increasing the number of mobile phones for community mental health staff so that they have fast access to assistance when emergencies arise; boosting education and training in key areas of competency, including assessment, risk assessment and dealing with aggression; and ensuring mental health services will be fully compliant with all WorkSafe orders. In addition to that, $2 million will be spent on the electronic mental health clinical information system known as PSOLIS, which will be the first integrated electronic mental health clinical information system in Western Australia. This system will provide doctors, mental health nurses and allied health staff with the patient’s complete medical and psychiatric history, including diagnosis, details of all prior hospitalisation and treatment, clinical indicators, current medications, family supports, clinical risks, current management plans, crisis plans, general practitioner information and what treatments they are currently receiving. PSOLIS has been developed to provide immediate information on all conditions to assist them with day-to-day clinical decision making. With demand for mental health services being the fastest growing area of the health system, it is vital that we tackle the issue with such strategies as those I have just outlined. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: Order! Mr J.A. McGINTY: That is an extra $90 million for mental health initiatives so far announced as part of the strategy.
As part of the Government’s mental health strategy, the Government will also spend $2 million to increase safety for mental health staff, which will go towards increasing personal protection of staff by upgrading the use and availability of personal duress alarms; upgrading safety of inpatient units by installing viewing panels in observation rooms, portable duress alarms in wards and controlling access to officers; increasing the number of mobile phones for community mental health staff so that they have fast access to assistance when emergencies arise; boosting education and training in key areas of competency, including assessment, risk assessment and dealing with aggression; and ensuring mental health services will be fully compliant with all WorkSafe orders. In addition to that, $2 million will be spent on the electronic mental health clinical information system known as PSOLIS, which will be the first integrated electronic mental health clinical information system in Western Australia. This system will provide doctors, mental health nurses and allied health staff with the patient’s complete medical and psychiatric history, including diagnosis, details of all prior hospitalisation and treatment, clinical indicators, current medications, family supports, clinical risks, current management plans, crisis plans, general practitioner information and what treatments they are currently receiving. PSOLIS has been developed to provide immediate information on all conditions to assist them with day-to-day clinical decision making. With demand for mental health services being the fastest growing area of the health system, it is vital that we tackle the issue with such strategies as those I have just outlined. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: Order! Mr J.A. McGINTY: That is an extra $90 million for mental health initiatives so far announced as part of the strategy.
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: Order! Mr J.A. McGINTY: That is an extra $90 million for mental health initiatives so far announced as part of the strategy.
The SPEAKER: Order! Mr J.A. McGINTY: That is an extra $90 million for mental health initiatives so far announced as part of the strategy.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: That is an extra $90 million for mental health initiatives so far announced as part of the strategy.
Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: I thank the member for Southern River for the question. I am pleased to announce that at the weekend the Premier and I unveiled $63.2 million to build an extra 420 community-based beds for mental health patients across Western Australia over the next two years. The program will almost double the number of community beds available for people with mental illness. This commitment follows the $23.6 million plan to establish specialist mental health teams and beds in hospital emergency departments. This latest initiative in community housing involves $37.85 million going towards the capital works, $9.5 million for funding operating costs and $15.85 million for Department of Health land. The strategy targets people in the community with various levels of mental illness. The expansion of services will begin this financial year with the construction of new homes due to start in 2005. The initiative will ease pressure on Western Australia’s public hospitals. Many people with mental illnesses who are occupying acute inpatient beds in hospitals would not necessarily need that level of care if community beds were available for them. Many others would not be admitted to hospital if they had appropriate accommodation and care in the community. The increase in services will also reduce pressure on families and carers of people with mental health problems. As part of the Government’s mental health strategy, the Government will also spend $2 million to increase safety for mental health staff, which will go towards increasing personal protection of staff by upgrading the use and availability of personal duress alarms; upgrading safety of inpatient units by installing viewing panels in observation rooms, portable duress alarms in wards and controlling access to officers; increasing the number of mobile phones for community mental health staff so that they have fast access to assistance when emergencies arise; boosting education and training in key areas of competency, including assessment, risk assessment and dealing with aggression; and ensuring mental health services will be fully compliant with all WorkSafe orders. In addition to that, $2 million will be spent on the electronic mental health clinical information system known as PSOLIS, which will be the first integrated electronic mental health clinical information system in Western Australia. This system will provide doctors, mental health nurses and allied health staff with the patient’s complete medical and psychiatric history, including diagnosis, details of all prior hospitalisation and treatment, clinical indicators, current medications, family supports, clinical risks, current management plans, crisis plans, general practitioner information and what treatments they are currently receiving. PSOLIS has been developed to provide immediate information on all conditions to assist them with day-to-day clinical decision making. With demand for mental health services being the fastest growing area of the health system, it is vital that we tackle the issue with such strategies as those I have just outlined. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: Order! Mr J.A. McGINTY: That is an extra $90 million for mental health initiatives so far announced as part of the strategy.
I thank the member for Southern River for the question. I am pleased to announce that at the weekend the Premier and I unveiled $63.2 million to build an extra 420 community-based beds for mental health patients across Western Australia over the next two years. The program will almost double the number of community beds available for people with mental illness. This commitment follows the $23.6 million plan to establish specialist mental health teams and beds in hospital emergency departments. This latest initiative in community housing involves $37.85 million going towards the capital works, $9.5 million for funding operating costs and $15.85 million for Department of Health land. The strategy targets people in the community with various levels of mental illness. The expansion of services will begin this financial year with the construction of new homes due to start in 2005. The initiative will ease pressure on Western Australia’s public hospitals. Many people with mental illnesses who are occupying acute inpatient beds in hospitals would not necessarily need that level of care if community beds were available for them. Many others would not be admitted to hospital if they had appropriate accommodation and care in the community. The increase in services will also reduce pressure on families and carers of people with mental health problems. As part of the Government’s mental health strategy, the Government will also spend $2 million to increase safety for mental health staff, which will go towards increasing personal protection of staff by upgrading the use and availability of personal duress alarms; upgrading safety of inpatient units by installing viewing panels in observation rooms, portable duress alarms in wards and controlling access to officers; increasing the number of mobile phones for community mental health staff so that they have fast access to assistance when emergencies arise; boosting education and training in key areas of competency, including assessment, risk assessment and dealing with aggression; and ensuring mental health services will be fully compliant with all WorkSafe orders. In addition to that, $2 million will be spent on the electronic mental health clinical information system known as PSOLIS, which will be the first integrated electronic mental health clinical information system in Western Australia. This system will provide doctors, mental health nurses and allied health staff with the patient’s complete medical and psychiatric history, including diagnosis, details of all prior hospitalisation and treatment, clinical indicators, current medications, family supports, clinical risks, current management plans, crisis plans, general practitioner information and what treatments they are currently receiving. PSOLIS has been developed to provide immediate information on all conditions to assist them with day-to-day clinical decision making. With demand for mental health services being the fastest growing area of the health system, it is vital that we tackle the issue with such strategies as those I have just outlined. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: Order! Mr J.A. McGINTY: That is an extra $90 million for mental health initiatives so far announced as part of the strategy.
As part of the Government’s mental health strategy, the Government will also spend $2 million to increase safety for mental health staff, which will go towards increasing personal protection of staff by upgrading the use and availability of personal duress alarms; upgrading safety of inpatient units by installing viewing panels in observation rooms, portable duress alarms in wards and controlling access to officers; increasing the number of mobile phones for community mental health staff so that they have fast access to assistance when emergencies arise; boosting education and training in key areas of competency, including assessment, risk assessment and dealing with aggression; and ensuring mental health services will be fully compliant with all WorkSafe orders. In addition to that, $2 million will be spent on the electronic mental health clinical information system known as PSOLIS, which will be the first integrated electronic mental health clinical information system in Western Australia. This system will provide doctors, mental health nurses and allied health staff with the patient’s complete medical and psychiatric history, including diagnosis, details of all prior hospitalisation and treatment, clinical indicators, current medications, family supports, clinical risks, current management plans, crisis plans, general practitioner information and what treatments they are currently receiving. PSOLIS has been developed to provide immediate information on all conditions to assist them with day-to-day clinical decision making. With demand for mental health services being the fastest growing area of the health system, it is vital that we tackle the issue with such strategies as those I have just outlined. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: Order! Mr J.A. McGINTY: That is an extra $90 million for mental health initiatives so far announced as part of the strategy.
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: Order! Mr J.A. McGINTY: That is an extra $90 million for mental health initiatives so far announced as part of the strategy.
The SPEAKER: Order! Mr J.A. McGINTY: That is an extra $90 million for mental health initiatives so far announced as part of the strategy.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: That is an extra $90 million for mental health initiatives so far announced as part of the strategy.
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