❓ Dr. Hames questions the Minister for Health regarding abuse and mistreatment of mental health patients outlined in the Council of Official Visitors report. The Minister responds by outlining actions taken and planned, while also deflecting criticism by referencing past government actions and criticising the opposition.
AnsweredQoN 954Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES - COUNCIL OF OFFICIAL VISITORS ANNUAL REPORT
I refer to the 2005-06 Council of Official Visitors annual report, which was tabled last week. It showed that mental health patients have been physically abused, illegally administered medication and kept against their will in voluntary wards. (1) When did the minister receive the report and what investigation has he undertaken into the findings, specifically the three I just mentioned? (2) Will the minister table the documents relating to his investigation and findings? (3) Given that the council has raised several of these serious concerns in the past, some as far back as 2003, why has the minister or the boards of hospitals failed to act to resolve any of these problems? Mr J.A. McGINTY
I refer to the 2005-06 Council of Official Visitors annual report, which was tabled last week. It showed that mental health patients have been physically abused, illegally administered medication and kept against their will in voluntary wards. (1) When did the minister receive the report and what investigation has he undertaken into the findings, specifically the three I just mentioned? (2) Will the minister table the documents relating to his investigation and findings? (3) Given that the council has raised several of these serious concerns in the past, some as far back as 2003, why has the minister or the boards of hospitals failed to act to resolve any of these problems? Mr J.A. McGINTY
AnswerView source ↗
(1)-(3) All mental health patients in public hospitals must be treated with respect and dignity, and their human rights must be fully respected. To that end we will be introducing in the first half of next year a new mental health act for Western Australia, which will embody the very important 25 principles coming from the United Nations convention on treatment of people with mental disabilities. I received the report from the Council of Official Visitors only a few weeks ago, immediately prior to it being tabled. I therefore cannot give the member the exact date, but it was a matter of weeks ago. I read the report and was aware of some of the issues raised in it. I requested the Chief Psychiatrist to immediately investigate the issues raised and to provide me with advice on what is being done to ensure that these matters are appropriately dealt with and will not recur. Dr K.D. Hames : Patients are being kept in wards in general hospitals and emergency departments because there are no beds in Graylands. Mr J.A. McGINTY : I notice, very interestingly, that Hon Helen Morton, the member’s upper house colleague and spokesperson for the Liberal Party on mental health, was roundly critical of the government for having spare bed capacity - the member would have seen the article - in the public hospital system to cater for people with mental illness. It seems to me that the Liberal Party wants to criticise things even when they are good. It wants to criticise goodness itself. Dr K.D. Hames : I do not know whether that is what she said. Mr J.A. McGINTY : That is exactly what she said. Dr K.D. Hames : There are patients in emergency departments being kept in a voluntary capacity but they are considered to be involuntary patients because there is nowhere to take them. There was one at Royal Perth just last week. Mr J.A. McGINTY : We are all aware that over the years both sides of politics have not adequately funded the mental health system. Mr J.H.D. Day : Not so. Mr J.A. McGINTY : It is horribly so! If the member had done the job that he is pretending he had done, we would not have a shortage of mental health beds. While he was the Minister for Health, the number of mental health beds in Western Australia declined dramatically. He should not give me that nonsense. We are in the process of opening new mental health beds. Sixteen additional beds are being opened at Mt Hawthorn Hospital, previously Hawthorn House. That step-down facility will free up an additional 16 acute mental health beds. A further 12 beds will open in January as a result of the new building at the Graylands campus. We have recently opened more beds at the Armadale campus. With accommodation in the community as well as in the public hospital system, the problem of the shortage of beds for mental health patients is about to become a thing of the past. It has bedevilled the public hospital system for a very long period, including all the time that the member for Darling Range was the minister. I have received an interim report from the Chief Psychiatrist, who has assured me that each of the matters raised in the Council of Official Visitors report is being fully investigated and that he intends to provide me with a more comprehensive report.
(1) When did the minister receive the report and what investigation has he undertaken into the findings, specifically the three I just mentioned? (2) Will the minister table the documents relating to his investigation and findings? (3) Given that the council has raised several of these serious concerns in the past, some as far back as 2003, why has the minister or the boards of hospitals failed to act to resolve any of these problems? Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: (1)-(3) All mental health patients in public hospitals must be treated with respect and dignity, and their human rights must be fully respected. To that end we will be introducing in the first half of next year a new mental health act for Western Australia, which will embody the very important 25 principles coming from the United Nations convention on treatment of people with mental disabilities. I received the report from the Council of Official Visitors only a few weeks ago, immediately prior to it being tabled. I therefore cannot give the member the exact date, but it was a matter of weeks ago. I read the report and was aware of some of the issues raised in it. I requested the Chief Psychiatrist to immediately investigate the issues raised and to provide me with advice on what is being done to ensure that these matters are appropriately dealt with and will not recur. Dr K.D. Hames : Patients are being kept in wards in general hospitals and emergency departments because there are no beds in Graylands. Mr J.A. McGINTY : I notice, very interestingly, that Hon Helen Morton, the member’s upper house colleague and spokesperson for the Liberal Party on mental health, was roundly critical of the government for having spare bed capacity - the member would have seen the article - in the public hospital system to cater for people with mental illness. It seems to me that the Liberal Party wants to criticise things even when they are good. It wants to criticise goodness itself. Dr K.D. Hames : I do not know whether that is what she said. Mr J.A. McGINTY : That is exactly what she said. Dr K.D. Hames : There are patients in emergency departments being kept in a voluntary capacity but they are considered to be involuntary patients because there is nowhere to take them. There was one at Royal Perth just last week. Mr J.A. McGINTY : We are all aware that over the years both sides of politics have not adequately funded the mental health system. Mr J.H.D. Day : Not so. Mr J.A. McGINTY : It is horribly so! If the member had done the job that he is pretending he had done, we would not have a shortage of mental health beds. While he was the Minister for Health, the number of mental health beds in Western Australia declined dramatically. He should not give me that nonsense. We are in the process of opening new mental health beds. Sixteen additional beds are being opened at Mt Hawthorn Hospital, previously Hawthorn House. That step-down facility will free up an additional 16 acute mental health beds. A further 12 beds will open in January as a result of the new building at the Graylands campus. We have recently opened more beds at the Armadale campus. With accommodation in the community as well as in the public hospital system, the problem of the shortage of beds for mental health patients is about to become a thing of the past. It has bedevilled the public hospital system for a very long period, including all the time that the member for Darling Range was the minister. I have received an interim report from the Chief Psychiatrist, who has assured me that each of the matters raised in the Council of Official Visitors report is being fully investigated and that he intends to provide me with a more comprehensive report.
(2) Will the minister table the documents relating to his investigation and findings? (3) Given that the council has raised several of these serious concerns in the past, some as far back as 2003, why has the minister or the boards of hospitals failed to act to resolve any of these problems? Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: (1)-(3) All mental health patients in public hospitals must be treated with respect and dignity, and their human rights must be fully respected. To that end we will be introducing in the first half of next year a new mental health act for Western Australia, which will embody the very important 25 principles coming from the United Nations convention on treatment of people with mental disabilities. I received the report from the Council of Official Visitors only a few weeks ago, immediately prior to it being tabled. I therefore cannot give the member the exact date, but it was a matter of weeks ago. I read the report and was aware of some of the issues raised in it. I requested the Chief Psychiatrist to immediately investigate the issues raised and to provide me with advice on what is being done to ensure that these matters are appropriately dealt with and will not recur. Dr K.D. Hames : Patients are being kept in wards in general hospitals and emergency departments because there are no beds in Graylands. Mr J.A. McGINTY : I notice, very interestingly, that Hon Helen Morton, the member’s upper house colleague and spokesperson for the Liberal Party on mental health, was roundly critical of the government for having spare bed capacity - the member would have seen the article - in the public hospital system to cater for people with mental illness. It seems to me that the Liberal Party wants to criticise things even when they are good. It wants to criticise goodness itself. Dr K.D. Hames : I do not know whether that is what she said. Mr J.A. McGINTY : That is exactly what she said. Dr K.D. Hames : There are patients in emergency departments being kept in a voluntary capacity but they are considered to be involuntary patients because there is nowhere to take them. There was one at Royal Perth just last week. Mr J.A. McGINTY : We are all aware that over the years both sides of politics have not adequately funded the mental health system. Mr J.H.D. Day : Not so. Mr J.A. McGINTY : It is horribly so! If the member had done the job that he is pretending he had done, we would not have a shortage of mental health beds. While he was the Minister for Health, the number of mental health beds in Western Australia declined dramatically. He should not give me that nonsense. We are in the process of opening new mental health beds. Sixteen additional beds are being opened at Mt Hawthorn Hospital, previously Hawthorn House. That step-down facility will free up an additional 16 acute mental health beds. A further 12 beds will open in January as a result of the new building at the Graylands campus. We have recently opened more beds at the Armadale campus. With accommodation in the community as well as in the public hospital system, the problem of the shortage of beds for mental health patients is about to become a thing of the past. It has bedevilled the public hospital system for a very long period, including all the time that the member for Darling Range was the minister. I have received an interim report from the Chief Psychiatrist, who has assured me that each of the matters raised in the Council of Official Visitors report is being fully investigated and that he intends to provide me with a more comprehensive report.
(3) Given that the council has raised several of these serious concerns in the past, some as far back as 2003, why has the minister or the boards of hospitals failed to act to resolve any of these problems? Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: (1)-(3) All mental health patients in public hospitals must be treated with respect and dignity, and their human rights must be fully respected. To that end we will be introducing in the first half of next year a new mental health act for Western Australia, which will embody the very important 25 principles coming from the United Nations convention on treatment of people with mental disabilities. I received the report from the Council of Official Visitors only a few weeks ago, immediately prior to it being tabled. I therefore cannot give the member the exact date, but it was a matter of weeks ago. I read the report and was aware of some of the issues raised in it. I requested the Chief Psychiatrist to immediately investigate the issues raised and to provide me with advice on what is being done to ensure that these matters are appropriately dealt with and will not recur. Dr K.D. Hames : Patients are being kept in wards in general hospitals and emergency departments because there are no beds in Graylands. Mr J.A. McGINTY : I notice, very interestingly, that Hon Helen Morton, the member’s upper house colleague and spokesperson for the Liberal Party on mental health, was roundly critical of the government for having spare bed capacity - the member would have seen the article - in the public hospital system to cater for people with mental illness. It seems to me that the Liberal Party wants to criticise things even when they are good. It wants to criticise goodness itself. Dr K.D. Hames : I do not know whether that is what she said. Mr J.A. McGINTY : That is exactly what she said. Dr K.D. Hames : There are patients in emergency departments being kept in a voluntary capacity but they are considered to be involuntary patients because there is nowhere to take them. There was one at Royal Perth just last week. Mr J.A. McGINTY : We are all aware that over the years both sides of politics have not adequately funded the mental health system. Mr J.H.D. Day : Not so. Mr J.A. McGINTY : It is horribly so! If the member had done the job that he is pretending he had done, we would not have a shortage of mental health beds. While he was the Minister for Health, the number of mental health beds in Western Australia declined dramatically. He should not give me that nonsense. We are in the process of opening new mental health beds. Sixteen additional beds are being opened at Mt Hawthorn Hospital, previously Hawthorn House. That step-down facility will free up an additional 16 acute mental health beds. A further 12 beds will open in January as a result of the new building at the Graylands campus. We have recently opened more beds at the Armadale campus. With accommodation in the community as well as in the public hospital system, the problem of the shortage of beds for mental health patients is about to become a thing of the past. It has bedevilled the public hospital system for a very long period, including all the time that the member for Darling Range was the minister. I have received an interim report from the Chief Psychiatrist, who has assured me that each of the matters raised in the Council of Official Visitors report is being fully investigated and that he intends to provide me with a more comprehensive report.
Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: (1)-(3) All mental health patients in public hospitals must be treated with respect and dignity, and their human rights must be fully respected. To that end we will be introducing in the first half of next year a new mental health act for Western Australia, which will embody the very important 25 principles coming from the United Nations convention on treatment of people with mental disabilities. I received the report from the Council of Official Visitors only a few weeks ago, immediately prior to it being tabled. I therefore cannot give the member the exact date, but it was a matter of weeks ago. I read the report and was aware of some of the issues raised in it. I requested the Chief Psychiatrist to immediately investigate the issues raised and to provide me with advice on what is being done to ensure that these matters are appropriately dealt with and will not recur. Dr K.D. Hames : Patients are being kept in wards in general hospitals and emergency departments because there are no beds in Graylands. Mr J.A. McGINTY : I notice, very interestingly, that Hon Helen Morton, the member’s upper house colleague and spokesperson for the Liberal Party on mental health, was roundly critical of the government for having spare bed capacity - the member would have seen the article - in the public hospital system to cater for people with mental illness. It seems to me that the Liberal Party wants to criticise things even when they are good. It wants to criticise goodness itself. Dr K.D. Hames : I do not know whether that is what she said. Mr J.A. McGINTY : That is exactly what she said. Dr K.D. Hames : There are patients in emergency departments being kept in a voluntary capacity but they are considered to be involuntary patients because there is nowhere to take them. There was one at Royal Perth just last week. Mr J.A. McGINTY : We are all aware that over the years both sides of politics have not adequately funded the mental health system. Mr J.H.D. Day : Not so. Mr J.A. McGINTY : It is horribly so! If the member had done the job that he is pretending he had done, we would not have a shortage of mental health beds. While he was the Minister for Health, the number of mental health beds in Western Australia declined dramatically. He should not give me that nonsense. We are in the process of opening new mental health beds. Sixteen additional beds are being opened at Mt Hawthorn Hospital, previously Hawthorn House. That step-down facility will free up an additional 16 acute mental health beds. A further 12 beds will open in January as a result of the new building at the Graylands campus. We have recently opened more beds at the Armadale campus. With accommodation in the community as well as in the public hospital system, the problem of the shortage of beds for mental health patients is about to become a thing of the past. It has bedevilled the public hospital system for a very long period, including all the time that the member for Darling Range was the minister. I have received an interim report from the Chief Psychiatrist, who has assured me that each of the matters raised in the Council of Official Visitors report is being fully investigated and that he intends to provide me with a more comprehensive report.
(1)-(3) All mental health patients in public hospitals must be treated with respect and dignity, and their human rights must be fully respected. To that end we will be introducing in the first half of next year a new mental health act for Western Australia, which will embody the very important 25 principles coming from the United Nations convention on treatment of people with mental disabilities. I received the report from the Council of Official Visitors only a few weeks ago, immediately prior to it being tabled. I therefore cannot give the member the exact date, but it was a matter of weeks ago. I read the report and was aware of some of the issues raised in it. I requested the Chief Psychiatrist to immediately investigate the issues raised and to provide me with advice on what is being done to ensure that these matters are appropriately dealt with and will not recur. Dr K.D. Hames : Patients are being kept in wards in general hospitals and emergency departments because there are no beds in Graylands. Mr J.A. McGINTY : I notice, very interestingly, that Hon Helen Morton, the member’s upper house colleague and spokesperson for the Liberal Party on mental health, was roundly critical of the government for having spare bed capacity - the member would have seen the article - in the public hospital system to cater for people with mental illness. It seems to me that the Liberal Party wants to criticise things even when they are good. It wants to criticise goodness itself. Dr K.D. Hames : I do not know whether that is what she said. Mr J.A. McGINTY : That is exactly what she said. Dr K.D. Hames : There are patients in emergency departments being kept in a voluntary capacity but they are considered to be involuntary patients because there is nowhere to take them. There was one at Royal Perth just last week. Mr J.A. McGINTY : We are all aware that over the years both sides of politics have not adequately funded the mental health system. Mr J.H.D. Day : Not so. Mr J.A. McGINTY : It is horribly so! If the member had done the job that he is pretending he had done, we would not have a shortage of mental health beds. While he was the Minister for Health, the number of mental health beds in Western Australia declined dramatically. He should not give me that nonsense. We are in the process of opening new mental health beds. Sixteen additional beds are being opened at Mt Hawthorn Hospital, previously Hawthorn House. That step-down facility will free up an additional 16 acute mental health beds. A further 12 beds will open in January as a result of the new building at the Graylands campus. We have recently opened more beds at the Armadale campus. With accommodation in the community as well as in the public hospital system, the problem of the shortage of beds for mental health patients is about to become a thing of the past. It has bedevilled the public hospital system for a very long period, including all the time that the member for Darling Range was the minister. I have received an interim report from the Chief Psychiatrist, who has assured me that each of the matters raised in the Council of Official Visitors report is being fully investigated and that he intends to provide me with a more comprehensive report.
Dr K.D. Hames : Patients are being kept in wards in general hospitals and emergency departments because there are no beds in Graylands. Mr J.A. McGINTY : I notice, very interestingly, that Hon Helen Morton, the member’s upper house colleague and spokesperson for the Liberal Party on mental health, was roundly critical of the government for having spare bed capacity - the member would have seen the article - in the public hospital system to cater for people with mental illness. It seems to me that the Liberal Party wants to criticise things even when they are good. It wants to criticise goodness itself. Dr K.D. Hames : I do not know whether that is what she said. Mr J.A. McGINTY : That is exactly what she said. Dr K.D. Hames : There are patients in emergency departments being kept in a voluntary capacity but they are considered to be involuntary patients because there is nowhere to take them. There was one at Royal Perth just last week. Mr J.A. McGINTY : We are all aware that over the years both sides of politics have not adequately funded the mental health system. Mr J.H.D. Day : Not so. Mr J.A. McGINTY : It is horribly so! If the member had done the job that he is pretending he had done, we would not have a shortage of mental health beds. While he was the Minister for Health, the number of mental health beds in Western Australia declined dramatically. He should not give me that nonsense. We are in the process of opening new mental health beds. Sixteen additional beds are being opened at Mt Hawthorn Hospital, previously Hawthorn House. That step-down facility will free up an additional 16 acute mental health beds. A further 12 beds will open in January as a result of the new building at the Graylands campus. We have recently opened more beds at the Armadale campus. With accommodation in the community as well as in the public hospital system, the problem of the shortage of beds for mental health patients is about to become a thing of the past. It has bedevilled the public hospital system for a very long period, including all the time that the member for Darling Range was the minister. I have received an interim report from the Chief Psychiatrist, who has assured me that each of the matters raised in the Council of Official Visitors report is being fully investigated and that he intends to provide me with a more comprehensive report.
Mr J.A. McGINTY : I notice, very interestingly, that Hon Helen Morton, the member’s upper house colleague and spokesperson for the Liberal Party on mental health, was roundly critical of the government for having spare bed capacity - the member would have seen the article - in the public hospital system to cater for people with mental illness. It seems to me that the Liberal Party wants to criticise things even when they are good. It wants to criticise goodness itself. Dr K.D. Hames : I do not know whether that is what she said. Mr J.A. McGINTY : That is exactly what she said. Dr K.D. Hames : There are patients in emergency departments being kept in a voluntary capacity but they are considered to be involuntary patients because there is nowhere to take them. There was one at Royal Perth just last week. Mr J.A. McGINTY : We are all aware that over the years both sides of politics have not adequately funded the mental health system. Mr J.H.D. Day : Not so. Mr J.A. McGINTY : It is horribly so! If the member had done the job that he is pretending he had done, we would not have a shortage of mental health beds. While he was the Minister for Health, the number of mental health beds in Western Australia declined dramatically. He should not give me that nonsense. We are in the process of opening new mental health beds. Sixteen additional beds are being opened at Mt Hawthorn Hospital, previously Hawthorn House. That step-down facility will free up an additional 16 acute mental health beds. A further 12 beds will open in January as a result of the new building at the Graylands campus. We have recently opened more beds at the Armadale campus. With accommodation in the community as well as in the public hospital system, the problem of the shortage of beds for mental health patients is about to become a thing of the past. It has bedevilled the public hospital system for a very long period, including all the time that the member for Darling Range was the minister. I have received an interim report from the Chief Psychiatrist, who has assured me that each of the matters raised in the Council of Official Visitors report is being fully investigated and that he intends to provide me with a more comprehensive report.
Dr K.D. Hames : I do not know whether that is what she said. Mr J.A. McGINTY : That is exactly what she said. Dr K.D. Hames : There are patients in emergency departments being kept in a voluntary capacity but they are considered to be involuntary patients because there is nowhere to take them. There was one at Royal Perth just last week. Mr J.A. McGINTY : We are all aware that over the years both sides of politics have not adequately funded the mental health system. Mr J.H.D. Day : Not so. Mr J.A. McGINTY : It is horribly so! If the member had done the job that he is pretending he had done, we would not have a shortage of mental health beds. While he was the Minister for Health, the number of mental health beds in Western Australia declined dramatically. He should not give me that nonsense. We are in the process of opening new mental health beds. Sixteen additional beds are being opened at Mt Hawthorn Hospital, previously Hawthorn House. That step-down facility will free up an additional 16 acute mental health beds. A further 12 beds will open in January as a result of the new building at the Graylands campus. We have recently opened more beds at the Armadale campus. With accommodation in the community as well as in the public hospital system, the problem of the shortage of beds for mental health patients is about to become a thing of the past. It has bedevilled the public hospital system for a very long period, including all the time that the member for Darling Range was the minister. I have received an interim report from the Chief Psychiatrist, who has assured me that each of the matters raised in the Council of Official Visitors report is being fully investigated and that he intends to provide me with a more comprehensive report.
Mr J.A. McGINTY : That is exactly what she said. Dr K.D. Hames : There are patients in emergency departments being kept in a voluntary capacity but they are considered to be involuntary patients because there is nowhere to take them. There was one at Royal Perth just last week. Mr J.A. McGINTY : We are all aware that over the years both sides of politics have not adequately funded the mental health system. Mr J.H.D. Day : Not so. Mr J.A. McGINTY : It is horribly so! If the member had done the job that he is pretending he had done, we would not have a shortage of mental health beds. While he was the Minister for Health, the number of mental health beds in Western Australia declined dramatically. He should not give me that nonsense. We are in the process of opening new mental health beds. Sixteen additional beds are being opened at Mt Hawthorn Hospital, previously Hawthorn House. That step-down facility will free up an additional 16 acute mental health beds. A further 12 beds will open in January as a result of the new building at the Graylands campus. We have recently opened more beds at the Armadale campus. With accommodation in the community as well as in the public hospital system, the problem of the shortage of beds for mental health patients is about to become a thing of the past. It has bedevilled the public hospital system for a very long period, including all the time that the member for Darling Range was the minister. I have received an interim report from the Chief Psychiatrist, who has assured me that each of the matters raised in the Council of Official Visitors report is being fully investigated and that he intends to provide me with a more comprehensive report.
Dr K.D. Hames : There are patients in emergency departments being kept in a voluntary capacity but they are considered to be involuntary patients because there is nowhere to take them. There was one at Royal Perth just last week. Mr J.A. McGINTY : We are all aware that over the years both sides of politics have not adequately funded the mental health system. Mr J.H.D. Day : Not so. Mr J.A. McGINTY : It is horribly so! If the member had done the job that he is pretending he had done, we would not have a shortage of mental health beds. While he was the Minister for Health, the number of mental health beds in Western Australia declined dramatically. He should not give me that nonsense. We are in the process of opening new mental health beds. Sixteen additional beds are being opened at Mt Hawthorn Hospital, previously Hawthorn House. That step-down facility will free up an additional 16 acute mental health beds. A further 12 beds will open in January as a result of the new building at the Graylands campus. We have recently opened more beds at the Armadale campus. With accommodation in the community as well as in the public hospital system, the problem of the shortage of beds for mental health patients is about to become a thing of the past. It has bedevilled the public hospital system for a very long period, including all the time that the member for Darling Range was the minister. I have received an interim report from the Chief Psychiatrist, who has assured me that each of the matters raised in the Council of Official Visitors report is being fully investigated and that he intends to provide me with a more comprehensive report.
Mr J.A. McGINTY : We are all aware that over the years both sides of politics have not adequately funded the mental health system. Mr J.H.D. Day : Not so. Mr J.A. McGINTY : It is horribly so! If the member had done the job that he is pretending he had done, we would not have a shortage of mental health beds. While he was the Minister for Health, the number of mental health beds in Western Australia declined dramatically. He should not give me that nonsense. We are in the process of opening new mental health beds. Sixteen additional beds are being opened at Mt Hawthorn Hospital, previously Hawthorn House. That step-down facility will free up an additional 16 acute mental health beds. A further 12 beds will open in January as a result of the new building at the Graylands campus. We have recently opened more beds at the Armadale campus. With accommodation in the community as well as in the public hospital system, the problem of the shortage of beds for mental health patients is about to become a thing of the past. It has bedevilled the public hospital system for a very long period, including all the time that the member for Darling Range was the minister. I have received an interim report from the Chief Psychiatrist, who has assured me that each of the matters raised in the Council of Official Visitors report is being fully investigated and that he intends to provide me with a more comprehensive report.
Mr J.H.D. Day : Not so. Mr J.A. McGINTY : It is horribly so! If the member had done the job that he is pretending he had done, we would not have a shortage of mental health beds. While he was the Minister for Health, the number of mental health beds in Western Australia declined dramatically. He should not give me that nonsense. We are in the process of opening new mental health beds. Sixteen additional beds are being opened at Mt Hawthorn Hospital, previously Hawthorn House. That step-down facility will free up an additional 16 acute mental health beds. A further 12 beds will open in January as a result of the new building at the Graylands campus. We have recently opened more beds at the Armadale campus. With accommodation in the community as well as in the public hospital system, the problem of the shortage of beds for mental health patients is about to become a thing of the past. It has bedevilled the public hospital system for a very long period, including all the time that the member for Darling Range was the minister. I have received an interim report from the Chief Psychiatrist, who has assured me that each of the matters raised in the Council of Official Visitors report is being fully investigated and that he intends to provide me with a more comprehensive report.
Mr J.A. McGINTY : It is horribly so! If the member had done the job that he is pretending he had done, we would not have a shortage of mental health beds. While he was the Minister for Health, the number of mental health beds in Western Australia declined dramatically. He should not give me that nonsense. We are in the process of opening new mental health beds. Sixteen additional beds are being opened at Mt Hawthorn Hospital, previously Hawthorn House. That step-down facility will free up an additional 16 acute mental health beds. A further 12 beds will open in January as a result of the new building at the Graylands campus. We have recently opened more beds at the Armadale campus. With accommodation in the community as well as in the public hospital system, the problem of the shortage of beds for mental health patients is about to become a thing of the past. It has bedevilled the public hospital system for a very long period, including all the time that the member for Darling Range was the minister. I have received an interim report from the Chief Psychiatrist, who has assured me that each of the matters raised in the Council of Official Visitors report is being fully investigated and that he intends to provide me with a more comprehensive report.
We are in the process of opening new mental health beds. Sixteen additional beds are being opened at Mt Hawthorn Hospital, previously Hawthorn House. That step-down facility will free up an additional 16 acute mental health beds. A further 12 beds will open in January as a result of the new building at the Graylands campus. We have recently opened more beds at the Armadale campus. With accommodation in the community as well as in the public hospital system, the problem of the shortage of beds for mental health patients is about to become a thing of the past. It has bedevilled the public hospital system for a very long period, including all the time that the member for Darling Range was the minister. I have received an interim report from the Chief Psychiatrist, who has assured me that each of the matters raised in the Council of Official Visitors report is being fully investigated and that he intends to provide me with a more comprehensive report.
(1) When did the minister receive the report and what investigation has he undertaken into the findings, specifically the three I just mentioned? (2) Will the minister table the documents relating to his investigation and findings? (3) Given that the council has raised several of these serious concerns in the past, some as far back as 2003, why has the minister or the boards of hospitals failed to act to resolve any of these problems? Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: (1)-(3) All mental health patients in public hospitals must be treated with respect and dignity, and their human rights must be fully respected. To that end we will be introducing in the first half of next year a new mental health act for Western Australia, which will embody the very important 25 principles coming from the United Nations convention on treatment of people with mental disabilities. I received the report from the Council of Official Visitors only a few weeks ago, immediately prior to it being tabled. I therefore cannot give the member the exact date, but it was a matter of weeks ago. I read the report and was aware of some of the issues raised in it. I requested the Chief Psychiatrist to immediately investigate the issues raised and to provide me with advice on what is being done to ensure that these matters are appropriately dealt with and will not recur. Dr K.D. Hames : Patients are being kept in wards in general hospitals and emergency departments because there are no beds in Graylands. Mr J.A. McGINTY : I notice, very interestingly, that Hon Helen Morton, the member’s upper house colleague and spokesperson for the Liberal Party on mental health, was roundly critical of the government for having spare bed capacity - the member would have seen the article - in the public hospital system to cater for people with mental illness. It seems to me that the Liberal Party wants to criticise things even when they are good. It wants to criticise goodness itself. Dr K.D. Hames : I do not know whether that is what she said. Mr J.A. McGINTY : That is exactly what she said. Dr K.D. Hames : There are patients in emergency departments being kept in a voluntary capacity but they are considered to be involuntary patients because there is nowhere to take them. There was one at Royal Perth just last week. Mr J.A. McGINTY : We are all aware that over the years both sides of politics have not adequately funded the mental health system. Mr J.H.D. Day : Not so. Mr J.A. McGINTY : It is horribly so! If the member had done the job that he is pretending he had done, we would not have a shortage of mental health beds. While he was the Minister for Health, the number of mental health beds in Western Australia declined dramatically. He should not give me that nonsense. We are in the process of opening new mental health beds. Sixteen additional beds are being opened at Mt Hawthorn Hospital, previously Hawthorn House. That step-down facility will free up an additional 16 acute mental health beds. A further 12 beds will open in January as a result of the new building at the Graylands campus. We have recently opened more beds at the Armadale campus. With accommodation in the community as well as in the public hospital system, the problem of the shortage of beds for mental health patients is about to become a thing of the past. It has bedevilled the public hospital system for a very long period, including all the time that the member for Darling Range was the minister. I have received an interim report from the Chief Psychiatrist, who has assured me that each of the matters raised in the Council of Official Visitors report is being fully investigated and that he intends to provide me with a more comprehensive report.
(2) Will the minister table the documents relating to his investigation and findings? (3) Given that the council has raised several of these serious concerns in the past, some as far back as 2003, why has the minister or the boards of hospitals failed to act to resolve any of these problems? Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: (1)-(3) All mental health patients in public hospitals must be treated with respect and dignity, and their human rights must be fully respected. To that end we will be introducing in the first half of next year a new mental health act for Western Australia, which will embody the very important 25 principles coming from the United Nations convention on treatment of people with mental disabilities. I received the report from the Council of Official Visitors only a few weeks ago, immediately prior to it being tabled. I therefore cannot give the member the exact date, but it was a matter of weeks ago. I read the report and was aware of some of the issues raised in it. I requested the Chief Psychiatrist to immediately investigate the issues raised and to provide me with advice on what is being done to ensure that these matters are appropriately dealt with and will not recur. Dr K.D. Hames : Patients are being kept in wards in general hospitals and emergency departments because there are no beds in Graylands. Mr J.A. McGINTY : I notice, very interestingly, that Hon Helen Morton, the member’s upper house colleague and spokesperson for the Liberal Party on mental health, was roundly critical of the government for having spare bed capacity - the member would have seen the article - in the public hospital system to cater for people with mental illness. It seems to me that the Liberal Party wants to criticise things even when they are good. It wants to criticise goodness itself. Dr K.D. Hames : I do not know whether that is what she said. Mr J.A. McGINTY : That is exactly what she said. Dr K.D. Hames : There are patients in emergency departments being kept in a voluntary capacity but they are considered to be involuntary patients because there is nowhere to take them. There was one at Royal Perth just last week. Mr J.A. McGINTY : We are all aware that over the years both sides of politics have not adequately funded the mental health system. Mr J.H.D. Day : Not so. Mr J.A. McGINTY : It is horribly so! If the member had done the job that he is pretending he had done, we would not have a shortage of mental health beds. While he was the Minister for Health, the number of mental health beds in Western Australia declined dramatically. He should not give me that nonsense. We are in the process of opening new mental health beds. Sixteen additional beds are being opened at Mt Hawthorn Hospital, previously Hawthorn House. That step-down facility will free up an additional 16 acute mental health beds. A further 12 beds will open in January as a result of the new building at the Graylands campus. We have recently opened more beds at the Armadale campus. With accommodation in the community as well as in the public hospital system, the problem of the shortage of beds for mental health patients is about to become a thing of the past. It has bedevilled the public hospital system for a very long period, including all the time that the member for Darling Range was the minister. I have received an interim report from the Chief Psychiatrist, who has assured me that each of the matters raised in the Council of Official Visitors report is being fully investigated and that he intends to provide me with a more comprehensive report.
(3) Given that the council has raised several of these serious concerns in the past, some as far back as 2003, why has the minister or the boards of hospitals failed to act to resolve any of these problems? Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: (1)-(3) All mental health patients in public hospitals must be treated with respect and dignity, and their human rights must be fully respected. To that end we will be introducing in the first half of next year a new mental health act for Western Australia, which will embody the very important 25 principles coming from the United Nations convention on treatment of people with mental disabilities. I received the report from the Council of Official Visitors only a few weeks ago, immediately prior to it being tabled. I therefore cannot give the member the exact date, but it was a matter of weeks ago. I read the report and was aware of some of the issues raised in it. I requested the Chief Psychiatrist to immediately investigate the issues raised and to provide me with advice on what is being done to ensure that these matters are appropriately dealt with and will not recur. Dr K.D. Hames : Patients are being kept in wards in general hospitals and emergency departments because there are no beds in Graylands. Mr J.A. McGINTY : I notice, very interestingly, that Hon Helen Morton, the member’s upper house colleague and spokesperson for the Liberal Party on mental health, was roundly critical of the government for having spare bed capacity - the member would have seen the article - in the public hospital system to cater for people with mental illness. It seems to me that the Liberal Party wants to criticise things even when they are good. It wants to criticise goodness itself. Dr K.D. Hames : I do not know whether that is what she said. Mr J.A. McGINTY : That is exactly what she said. Dr K.D. Hames : There are patients in emergency departments being kept in a voluntary capacity but they are considered to be involuntary patients because there is nowhere to take them. There was one at Royal Perth just last week. Mr J.A. McGINTY : We are all aware that over the years both sides of politics have not adequately funded the mental health system. Mr J.H.D. Day : Not so. Mr J.A. McGINTY : It is horribly so! If the member had done the job that he is pretending he had done, we would not have a shortage of mental health beds. While he was the Minister for Health, the number of mental health beds in Western Australia declined dramatically. He should not give me that nonsense. We are in the process of opening new mental health beds. Sixteen additional beds are being opened at Mt Hawthorn Hospital, previously Hawthorn House. That step-down facility will free up an additional 16 acute mental health beds. A further 12 beds will open in January as a result of the new building at the Graylands campus. We have recently opened more beds at the Armadale campus. With accommodation in the community as well as in the public hospital system, the problem of the shortage of beds for mental health patients is about to become a thing of the past. It has bedevilled the public hospital system for a very long period, including all the time that the member for Darling Range was the minister. I have received an interim report from the Chief Psychiatrist, who has assured me that each of the matters raised in the Council of Official Visitors report is being fully investigated and that he intends to provide me with a more comprehensive report.
Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: (1)-(3) All mental health patients in public hospitals must be treated with respect and dignity, and their human rights must be fully respected. To that end we will be introducing in the first half of next year a new mental health act for Western Australia, which will embody the very important 25 principles coming from the United Nations convention on treatment of people with mental disabilities. I received the report from the Council of Official Visitors only a few weeks ago, immediately prior to it being tabled. I therefore cannot give the member the exact date, but it was a matter of weeks ago. I read the report and was aware of some of the issues raised in it. I requested the Chief Psychiatrist to immediately investigate the issues raised and to provide me with advice on what is being done to ensure that these matters are appropriately dealt with and will not recur. Dr K.D. Hames : Patients are being kept in wards in general hospitals and emergency departments because there are no beds in Graylands. Mr J.A. McGINTY : I notice, very interestingly, that Hon Helen Morton, the member’s upper house colleague and spokesperson for the Liberal Party on mental health, was roundly critical of the government for having spare bed capacity - the member would have seen the article - in the public hospital system to cater for people with mental illness. It seems to me that the Liberal Party wants to criticise things even when they are good. It wants to criticise goodness itself. Dr K.D. Hames : I do not know whether that is what she said. Mr J.A. McGINTY : That is exactly what she said. Dr K.D. Hames : There are patients in emergency departments being kept in a voluntary capacity but they are considered to be involuntary patients because there is nowhere to take them. There was one at Royal Perth just last week. Mr J.A. McGINTY : We are all aware that over the years both sides of politics have not adequately funded the mental health system. Mr J.H.D. Day : Not so. Mr J.A. McGINTY : It is horribly so! If the member had done the job that he is pretending he had done, we would not have a shortage of mental health beds. While he was the Minister for Health, the number of mental health beds in Western Australia declined dramatically. He should not give me that nonsense. We are in the process of opening new mental health beds. Sixteen additional beds are being opened at Mt Hawthorn Hospital, previously Hawthorn House. That step-down facility will free up an additional 16 acute mental health beds. A further 12 beds will open in January as a result of the new building at the Graylands campus. We have recently opened more beds at the Armadale campus. With accommodation in the community as well as in the public hospital system, the problem of the shortage of beds for mental health patients is about to become a thing of the past. It has bedevilled the public hospital system for a very long period, including all the time that the member for Darling Range was the minister. I have received an interim report from the Chief Psychiatrist, who has assured me that each of the matters raised in the Council of Official Visitors report is being fully investigated and that he intends to provide me with a more comprehensive report.
(1)-(3) All mental health patients in public hospitals must be treated with respect and dignity, and their human rights must be fully respected. To that end we will be introducing in the first half of next year a new mental health act for Western Australia, which will embody the very important 25 principles coming from the United Nations convention on treatment of people with mental disabilities. I received the report from the Council of Official Visitors only a few weeks ago, immediately prior to it being tabled. I therefore cannot give the member the exact date, but it was a matter of weeks ago. I read the report and was aware of some of the issues raised in it. I requested the Chief Psychiatrist to immediately investigate the issues raised and to provide me with advice on what is being done to ensure that these matters are appropriately dealt with and will not recur. Dr K.D. Hames : Patients are being kept in wards in general hospitals and emergency departments because there are no beds in Graylands. Mr J.A. McGINTY : I notice, very interestingly, that Hon Helen Morton, the member’s upper house colleague and spokesperson for the Liberal Party on mental health, was roundly critical of the government for having spare bed capacity - the member would have seen the article - in the public hospital system to cater for people with mental illness. It seems to me that the Liberal Party wants to criticise things even when they are good. It wants to criticise goodness itself. Dr K.D. Hames : I do not know whether that is what she said. Mr J.A. McGINTY : That is exactly what she said. Dr K.D. Hames : There are patients in emergency departments being kept in a voluntary capacity but they are considered to be involuntary patients because there is nowhere to take them. There was one at Royal Perth just last week. Mr J.A. McGINTY : We are all aware that over the years both sides of politics have not adequately funded the mental health system. Mr J.H.D. Day : Not so. Mr J.A. McGINTY : It is horribly so! If the member had done the job that he is pretending he had done, we would not have a shortage of mental health beds. While he was the Minister for Health, the number of mental health beds in Western Australia declined dramatically. He should not give me that nonsense. We are in the process of opening new mental health beds. Sixteen additional beds are being opened at Mt Hawthorn Hospital, previously Hawthorn House. That step-down facility will free up an additional 16 acute mental health beds. A further 12 beds will open in January as a result of the new building at the Graylands campus. We have recently opened more beds at the Armadale campus. With accommodation in the community as well as in the public hospital system, the problem of the shortage of beds for mental health patients is about to become a thing of the past. It has bedevilled the public hospital system for a very long period, including all the time that the member for Darling Range was the minister. I have received an interim report from the Chief Psychiatrist, who has assured me that each of the matters raised in the Council of Official Visitors report is being fully investigated and that he intends to provide me with a more comprehensive report.
Dr K.D. Hames : Patients are being kept in wards in general hospitals and emergency departments because there are no beds in Graylands. Mr J.A. McGINTY : I notice, very interestingly, that Hon Helen Morton, the member’s upper house colleague and spokesperson for the Liberal Party on mental health, was roundly critical of the government for having spare bed capacity - the member would have seen the article - in the public hospital system to cater for people with mental illness. It seems to me that the Liberal Party wants to criticise things even when they are good. It wants to criticise goodness itself. Dr K.D. Hames : I do not know whether that is what she said. Mr J.A. McGINTY : That is exactly what she said. Dr K.D. Hames : There are patients in emergency departments being kept in a voluntary capacity but they are considered to be involuntary patients because there is nowhere to take them. There was one at Royal Perth just last week. Mr J.A. McGINTY : We are all aware that over the years both sides of politics have not adequately funded the mental health system. Mr J.H.D. Day : Not so. Mr J.A. McGINTY : It is horribly so! If the member had done the job that he is pretending he had done, we would not have a shortage of mental health beds. While he was the Minister for Health, the number of mental health beds in Western Australia declined dramatically. He should not give me that nonsense. We are in the process of opening new mental health beds. Sixteen additional beds are being opened at Mt Hawthorn Hospital, previously Hawthorn House. That step-down facility will free up an additional 16 acute mental health beds. A further 12 beds will open in January as a result of the new building at the Graylands campus. We have recently opened more beds at the Armadale campus. With accommodation in the community as well as in the public hospital system, the problem of the shortage of beds for mental health patients is about to become a thing of the past. It has bedevilled the public hospital system for a very long period, including all the time that the member for Darling Range was the minister. I have received an interim report from the Chief Psychiatrist, who has assured me that each of the matters raised in the Council of Official Visitors report is being fully investigated and that he intends to provide me with a more comprehensive report.
Mr J.A. McGINTY : I notice, very interestingly, that Hon Helen Morton, the member’s upper house colleague and spokesperson for the Liberal Party on mental health, was roundly critical of the government for having spare bed capacity - the member would have seen the article - in the public hospital system to cater for people with mental illness. It seems to me that the Liberal Party wants to criticise things even when they are good. It wants to criticise goodness itself. Dr K.D. Hames : I do not know whether that is what she said. Mr J.A. McGINTY : That is exactly what she said. Dr K.D. Hames : There are patients in emergency departments being kept in a voluntary capacity but they are considered to be involuntary patients because there is nowhere to take them. There was one at Royal Perth just last week. Mr J.A. McGINTY : We are all aware that over the years both sides of politics have not adequately funded the mental health system. Mr J.H.D. Day : Not so. Mr J.A. McGINTY : It is horribly so! If the member had done the job that he is pretending he had done, we would not have a shortage of mental health beds. While he was the Minister for Health, the number of mental health beds in Western Australia declined dramatically. He should not give me that nonsense. We are in the process of opening new mental health beds. Sixteen additional beds are being opened at Mt Hawthorn Hospital, previously Hawthorn House. That step-down facility will free up an additional 16 acute mental health beds. A further 12 beds will open in January as a result of the new building at the Graylands campus. We have recently opened more beds at the Armadale campus. With accommodation in the community as well as in the public hospital system, the problem of the shortage of beds for mental health patients is about to become a thing of the past. It has bedevilled the public hospital system for a very long period, including all the time that the member for Darling Range was the minister. I have received an interim report from the Chief Psychiatrist, who has assured me that each of the matters raised in the Council of Official Visitors report is being fully investigated and that he intends to provide me with a more comprehensive report.
Dr K.D. Hames : I do not know whether that is what she said. Mr J.A. McGINTY : That is exactly what she said. Dr K.D. Hames : There are patients in emergency departments being kept in a voluntary capacity but they are considered to be involuntary patients because there is nowhere to take them. There was one at Royal Perth just last week. Mr J.A. McGINTY : We are all aware that over the years both sides of politics have not adequately funded the mental health system. Mr J.H.D. Day : Not so. Mr J.A. McGINTY : It is horribly so! If the member had done the job that he is pretending he had done, we would not have a shortage of mental health beds. While he was the Minister for Health, the number of mental health beds in Western Australia declined dramatically. He should not give me that nonsense. We are in the process of opening new mental health beds. Sixteen additional beds are being opened at Mt Hawthorn Hospital, previously Hawthorn House. That step-down facility will free up an additional 16 acute mental health beds. A further 12 beds will open in January as a result of the new building at the Graylands campus. We have recently opened more beds at the Armadale campus. With accommodation in the community as well as in the public hospital system, the problem of the shortage of beds for mental health patients is about to become a thing of the past. It has bedevilled the public hospital system for a very long period, including all the time that the member for Darling Range was the minister. I have received an interim report from the Chief Psychiatrist, who has assured me that each of the matters raised in the Council of Official Visitors report is being fully investigated and that he intends to provide me with a more comprehensive report.
Mr J.A. McGINTY : That is exactly what she said. Dr K.D. Hames : There are patients in emergency departments being kept in a voluntary capacity but they are considered to be involuntary patients because there is nowhere to take them. There was one at Royal Perth just last week. Mr J.A. McGINTY : We are all aware that over the years both sides of politics have not adequately funded the mental health system. Mr J.H.D. Day : Not so. Mr J.A. McGINTY : It is horribly so! If the member had done the job that he is pretending he had done, we would not have a shortage of mental health beds. While he was the Minister for Health, the number of mental health beds in Western Australia declined dramatically. He should not give me that nonsense. We are in the process of opening new mental health beds. Sixteen additional beds are being opened at Mt Hawthorn Hospital, previously Hawthorn House. That step-down facility will free up an additional 16 acute mental health beds. A further 12 beds will open in January as a result of the new building at the Graylands campus. We have recently opened more beds at the Armadale campus. With accommodation in the community as well as in the public hospital system, the problem of the shortage of beds for mental health patients is about to become a thing of the past. It has bedevilled the public hospital system for a very long period, including all the time that the member for Darling Range was the minister. I have received an interim report from the Chief Psychiatrist, who has assured me that each of the matters raised in the Council of Official Visitors report is being fully investigated and that he intends to provide me with a more comprehensive report.
Dr K.D. Hames : There are patients in emergency departments being kept in a voluntary capacity but they are considered to be involuntary patients because there is nowhere to take them. There was one at Royal Perth just last week. Mr J.A. McGINTY : We are all aware that over the years both sides of politics have not adequately funded the mental health system. Mr J.H.D. Day : Not so. Mr J.A. McGINTY : It is horribly so! If the member had done the job that he is pretending he had done, we would not have a shortage of mental health beds. While he was the Minister for Health, the number of mental health beds in Western Australia declined dramatically. He should not give me that nonsense. We are in the process of opening new mental health beds. Sixteen additional beds are being opened at Mt Hawthorn Hospital, previously Hawthorn House. That step-down facility will free up an additional 16 acute mental health beds. A further 12 beds will open in January as a result of the new building at the Graylands campus. We have recently opened more beds at the Armadale campus. With accommodation in the community as well as in the public hospital system, the problem of the shortage of beds for mental health patients is about to become a thing of the past. It has bedevilled the public hospital system for a very long period, including all the time that the member for Darling Range was the minister. I have received an interim report from the Chief Psychiatrist, who has assured me that each of the matters raised in the Council of Official Visitors report is being fully investigated and that he intends to provide me with a more comprehensive report.
Mr J.A. McGINTY : We are all aware that over the years both sides of politics have not adequately funded the mental health system. Mr J.H.D. Day : Not so. Mr J.A. McGINTY : It is horribly so! If the member had done the job that he is pretending he had done, we would not have a shortage of mental health beds. While he was the Minister for Health, the number of mental health beds in Western Australia declined dramatically. He should not give me that nonsense. We are in the process of opening new mental health beds. Sixteen additional beds are being opened at Mt Hawthorn Hospital, previously Hawthorn House. That step-down facility will free up an additional 16 acute mental health beds. A further 12 beds will open in January as a result of the new building at the Graylands campus. We have recently opened more beds at the Armadale campus. With accommodation in the community as well as in the public hospital system, the problem of the shortage of beds for mental health patients is about to become a thing of the past. It has bedevilled the public hospital system for a very long period, including all the time that the member for Darling Range was the minister. I have received an interim report from the Chief Psychiatrist, who has assured me that each of the matters raised in the Council of Official Visitors report is being fully investigated and that he intends to provide me with a more comprehensive report.
Mr J.H.D. Day : Not so. Mr J.A. McGINTY : It is horribly so! If the member had done the job that he is pretending he had done, we would not have a shortage of mental health beds. While he was the Minister for Health, the number of mental health beds in Western Australia declined dramatically. He should not give me that nonsense. We are in the process of opening new mental health beds. Sixteen additional beds are being opened at Mt Hawthorn Hospital, previously Hawthorn House. That step-down facility will free up an additional 16 acute mental health beds. A further 12 beds will open in January as a result of the new building at the Graylands campus. We have recently opened more beds at the Armadale campus. With accommodation in the community as well as in the public hospital system, the problem of the shortage of beds for mental health patients is about to become a thing of the past. It has bedevilled the public hospital system for a very long period, including all the time that the member for Darling Range was the minister. I have received an interim report from the Chief Psychiatrist, who has assured me that each of the matters raised in the Council of Official Visitors report is being fully investigated and that he intends to provide me with a more comprehensive report.
Mr J.A. McGINTY : It is horribly so! If the member had done the job that he is pretending he had done, we would not have a shortage of mental health beds. While he was the Minister for Health, the number of mental health beds in Western Australia declined dramatically. He should not give me that nonsense. We are in the process of opening new mental health beds. Sixteen additional beds are being opened at Mt Hawthorn Hospital, previously Hawthorn House. That step-down facility will free up an additional 16 acute mental health beds. A further 12 beds will open in January as a result of the new building at the Graylands campus. We have recently opened more beds at the Armadale campus. With accommodation in the community as well as in the public hospital system, the problem of the shortage of beds for mental health patients is about to become a thing of the past. It has bedevilled the public hospital system for a very long period, including all the time that the member for Darling Range was the minister. I have received an interim report from the Chief Psychiatrist, who has assured me that each of the matters raised in the Council of Official Visitors report is being fully investigated and that he intends to provide me with a more comprehensive report.
We are in the process of opening new mental health beds. Sixteen additional beds are being opened at Mt Hawthorn Hospital, previously Hawthorn House. That step-down facility will free up an additional 16 acute mental health beds. A further 12 beds will open in January as a result of the new building at the Graylands campus. We have recently opened more beds at the Armadale campus. With accommodation in the community as well as in the public hospital system, the problem of the shortage of beds for mental health patients is about to become a thing of the past. It has bedevilled the public hospital system for a very long period, including all the time that the member for Darling Range was the minister. I have received an interim report from the Chief Psychiatrist, who has assured me that each of the matters raised in the Council of Official Visitors report is being fully investigated and that he intends to provide me with a more comprehensive report.
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