Page 212 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 14 February 2018
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(g) developing the Mental Health Specialty Service Plan within the Territory-wide Health Services Framework and the associated mental health model of care, which will improve the coordination of mental health services in a holistic and patient-centred way; and
(3) calls on the Minister for Mental Health to provide an update to the Assembly by the first sitting day in May 2018 on:
(a) the establishment of the Office for Mental Health, including its proposed model and functions;
(b) the Government’s efforts to simplify navigation of the mental health services system for people in the ACT; and
(c) the Government’s strategies to attract and retain more medical professionals, including mental health professionals in Canberra and with a focus on the field of child and adolescent mental health.”.
I will speak to that in detail.
In my time as minister I have been impressed with the skill and dedication of those who work in mental health services. We have a dedicated and professional workforce who are doing what can be at times a very difficult job. However, I do think it is fair to say that what I often see is a number of high quality services as opposed to a well-integrated system, and that is something that we want to try to address.
There are issues around integration between primary, secondary and tertiary mental health services, between government and non-government, public and private. I consider that the system remains largely focused on responding to acute care and crisis. It has not shifted towards promotion, prevention and early intervention enough, even though the evidence to support this is stronger than ever.
I would hasten to add that this is a challenge for all advanced healthcare systems to ensure that they work in an integrated fashion and are systems that people can move around relatively easily in, accessing the right care at the right time. It is important that we recognise, whilst there is absolutely work to do in this respect in the ACT, that this is not uniquely a Canberra problem.
What I can say, however, is that this government has taken decisive steps in seeking to improve coordination and integration for the people of the ACT, and that is why we committed to establish an office for mental health at the last election and that is why it is a key item in the parliamentary agreement and one that I am moving forward. I am focused on developing an accountable, transparent and community-focused approach to both chronic and acute mental health care that puts the people who need the service at the centre of it.
The office for mental health is a central part of our reform agenda and will have a key role in addressing some of the issues of connectivity and coordination that I am keen to address. I have said on numerous occasions that my four goals for the office are to provide comprehensive oversight and increased understanding of the mental health system and how it can be improved in the ACT, to ensure person-centred and needs-based approaches across government initiatives, to improve the coordination,
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