Page 2782 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 13 August 2019
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most appropriate clinical option for people’s mental health needs. That is why it is important that while we continue to invest in both our acute and community-based mental health services, we also invest in early intervention and prevention, which is what the 2019-20 budget seeks to do.
Before I move on to talk about specifics in relation to some of the new initiatives announced in the budget, I would like first to mention the work that has gone into developing a new strategic indicator for the ACT Health Directorate in the mental health area. I am pleased to say that we now have a strategic indicator for improving the mental wellbeing of Canberrans—strategic indicator 4—which will measure the percentage of ACT adults who self-report their mental health status as good, very good or excellent.
The indicator aims to reflect people’s feelings and views about their mental health and recognises that mental health is impacted by a range of factors, including access to appropriate preventive, early intervention, primary care, community and acute services. This demonstrates the government’s inclusion of mental health as part of the broader focus of the Health Directorate on improving the health and wellbeing of the community. This new indicator will be measured biennially as part of the ACT general health survey.
I will now move on to highlight some of the new initiatives announced in the 2019-20 budget. Firstly, acknowledging the growth in demand for the specialist care provided by the adult mental health unit at Canberra Hospital, $12.1 million has been allocated over the next four years to ensure that our acute mental health services are properly resourced and available to provide care for people experiencing severe mental health episodes and those managing chronic conditions.
This investment will include $7 million to boost allied health and nursing staff numbers, ensuring that inpatients are provided with more comprehensive psychosocial care to support their recovery and management of their mental health, while also supporting stronger workforce development.
It will also include $5.1 million to establish an electroconvulsive therapy—ECT—service. This new service will provide better access to necessary therapy for patients experiencing mental health issues like depression and psychosis, leading to reduced length of stay for inpatients and fewer relapses for people requiring maintenance therapy in the community.
To expand the support to people with mental illness across the Canberra Hospital campus more broadly, the 2019-20 budget will also provide $4.6 million to expand the mental health consultation liaison service to operate seven days a week. This service has a particular focus on providing support for people admitted into medical and surgical wards, and those presenting to the emergency department. This expansion of funding to the service will help to ensure that mental health issues can be safely managed in general wards where appropriate, helping to reduce pressure on inpatient acute mental health beds.
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