Page 3308 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 19 October 2022
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Health—eating disorder support services
MS CASTLEY: My question is to the Minister for Mental Health. Minister, concerned families of children admitted to the Canberra Hospital with eating disorders have spoken to the Canberra Liberals about the care their kids receive. One parent reported that when their child was admitted to the adult mental health unit, they were not fed via nasogastric tube or intravenous line as happens in the paediatric high care unit.
Minister, why are children with eating disorders being treated in the hospital’s adult mental health unit, and how many children have been admitted to the adult mental health unit since it opened?
MS DAVIDSON: I thank Ms Castley for the question, and I will take on notice the detail of exactly how many children have been admitted to the adult mental health unit for treatment of eating disorders.
Eating disorder treatment is quite complex because it needs to address psychological, medical, clinical and sociocultural aspects of that particular mental health condition. So the type of clinical care that is required for an individual can vary quite a bit between individuals and at different points in time in their condition.
I would certainly encourage you, if ever you are receiving feedback from people in the community about particular individual cases, to get in contact with my office so we can make sure they are engaged with CHS to make sure all of the concerns are addressed for that specific individual.
MS CASTLEY: Minister, why aren’t children with eating disorders who are being treated in the adult mental health unit being fed via nasogastric tube or intravenous line, as happens in the paediatric high care unit? The service seems to be different, but the needs are the same.
MS DAVIDSON: As I was just saying, the needs of individuals who are experiencing eating disorders vary quite a bit from individual to individual. The kind of clinical treatment they receive needs to take into account their medical needs, their psychological needs and their sociocultural needs, and that will vary over the course of their condition as well. It is, very much, a response the individual’s specific needs as to what type of treatment they receive and in what setting.
I would certainly encourage you, if you are receiving feedback from a constituent in the community about an individual case, to get in contact with my office so we can make sure that CHS are addressing that individual’s needs.
MR COCKS: Minister, why are children and young people having to rely on ministerial intervention in order to prevent them falling through the cracks between the physical and mental health systems.
MS DAVIDSON: Thank you for the question. CHS has a range of processes in place for people to raise their concerns, but it is really important in a healthy functioning democracy that people are still able to take their concerns to government directly and to ministers if they feel the need to.
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