Mental Health Services - Output program
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WRITTEN QUESTIONS
10th Assembly
19/07/2005
212. Mental Health Services - Output program
Ms Carney to MINISTER for Family and Community Services
QUESTION
2. What outputs were achieved this financial year for the additional $4.6m, which I gather was attached to the reform outcomes.
ANSWER
Answered on 06/02/2006
H:\EXEC\CLRK_ASS\WQST10thAssy\WQstsans\Aqsts212.doc
1. The following changes have been made to the delivery of mental health services:
- Commencement of visiting psychiatrist services to remote communities to support the locally based primary health services.
- Commencement of visiting services to regional centres.
- Redeveloping and expanding the after-hours service in Darwin in order to provide an improved response to the Emergency Department and to the general community.
- Creating a ‘sub-acute’ specialist support capacity to work with the non-government sector to ensure appropriate clinical support to new community based services.
Commencement of an 18 month trial of sub-acute individual care packages; and
Funding to support and sustain consumer and carer organisations and to undertake mental health promotion activities.
- Workforce retention and development initiatives such as an increase in the education budget for mental health service clinicians, expansion of the Registrar Training Program and commencement of a national and international recruitment strategy for mental health nurses.
- Top End Mental Health Service (TEMHS) achieved Australian Council of Healthcare Standards (ACHS) Accreditation in February 2004 (TEMHS delivers services to three quarters of the NT population). Central Australian Mental Health Service (CAMHS) have completed the self-assessment and ACHS will conduct the first organisation wide assessment in November 2005.
- Modifications to inpatient facilities to address safety issues in the Alice Springs and Top End Inpatient Units.
- 30% increase in hospital separations (from 1196 in 03/04 to 1554 in 04/05);
- 20% increase in numbers of individuals seen (from 3903 in 03/04 to 4696 in 04/05); and
- 20% increase in individual occasions of service (from 42,911 in 03/04 to 51,142 in 04/05.
WRITTEN QUESTIONS
10th Assembly
19/07/2005
212. Mental Health Services - Output program
Ms Carney to MINISTER for Family and Community Services
QUESTION
Mental Health Services - Output program
- Minister in Budget Book 3 2004/2005, p132 the following Budget Highlight appeared:
- ‘the 2004-05 mental health budget has funding to address increasing demand for essential community-based mental health services. A four-year program to reform mental health services commenced in 2003/2004 with $2m spent in that year and increasing to $4.6m in 2004/2005.’:
2. What outputs were achieved this financial year for the additional $4.6m, which I gather was attached to the reform outcomes.
ANSWER
Answered on 06/02/2006
H:\EXEC\CLRK_ASS\WQST10thAssy\WQstsans\Aqsts212.doc
1. The following changes have been made to the delivery of mental health services:
- Increased services to rural and remote communities including:
- Commencement of visiting psychiatrist services to remote communities to support the locally based primary health services.
- Increased Child and Adolescent Services including:
- Commencement of visiting services to regional centres.
- Redeveloping and expanding the after-hours service in Darwin in order to provide an improved response to the Emergency Department and to the general community.
- Creating a ‘sub-acute’ specialist support capacity to work with the non-government sector to ensure appropriate clinical support to new community based services.
- Increasing community based support and rehabilitation services provided by NGOs in Darwin and Alice Springs including:
Commencement of an 18 month trial of sub-acute individual care packages; and
Funding to support and sustain consumer and carer organisations and to undertake mental health promotion activities.
- Improvements in safety and quality of mental health services including:
- Workforce retention and development initiatives such as an increase in the education budget for mental health service clinicians, expansion of the Registrar Training Program and commencement of a national and international recruitment strategy for mental health nurses.
- Top End Mental Health Service (TEMHS) achieved Australian Council of Healthcare Standards (ACHS) Accreditation in February 2004 (TEMHS delivers services to three quarters of the NT population). Central Australian Mental Health Service (CAMHS) have completed the self-assessment and ACHS will conduct the first organisation wide assessment in November 2005.
- Modifications to inpatient facilities to address safety issues in the Alice Springs and Top End Inpatient Units.
- 30% increase in hospital separations (from 1196 in 03/04 to 1554 in 04/05);
- 20% increase in numbers of individuals seen (from 3903 in 03/04 to 4696 in 04/05); and
- 20% increase in individual occasions of service (from 42,911 in 03/04 to 51,142 in 04/05.
- These outputs do not include service activity in the non government sector which received a substantial funding increase during this period.
In addition, $898,184 of the new funding has been allocated recurrently to replace funding previously provided by the Australian Government and would not have resulted in any increased output activity.
Last updated: 04 Aug 2016