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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2001 Week 7 Hansard (19 June) . . Page.. 2108 ..

MS TUCKER (continuing):

several years under de facto competition principles which have undermined the capacity of the hospital to deliver the service we require. This has done some damage to the hope of a positive partnership between government and the work force. A lot of work needs to be done on that issue.

The question of disabilities has been touched on. I am still concerned that that area is not receiving adequate attention from the government in quality control or adequate funding.

I have to mention mental health. I did an inquiry into mental health services in the last Assembly. The complaints I have been getting over the last six months about mental health services make me feel that very little has been achieved since that inquiry was carried out.

I am still consistently getting complaints about service quality in the psych unit and in other mental health service areas. The psych unit complaints are about the quality of care, lack of systems, lack of communication with carers and lack of communication with agencies that patients are being referred to. There seems to be no real coordination of what information is communicated to agencies that patients are discharged to, with quite serious consequences on occasions.

There are concerns about the lack of supervision within the psych unit. There have been allegations of assaults within the unit, and there is concern in the consumer community about what is going on there. There is concern about the Macquarie Hotel being used in an inappropriate way as almost a second unit.

There are still complaints about the CAT team. I am still getting complaints about the time it takes for the CAT team to respond, not only to answer the phone but to go to crises. I have received allegations that the CAT team say they cannot attend a crisis due to understaffing.

There are concerns that there are not enough consumer consultants. There are problems with borderline personality patients. The services are not able to deal with those people.

There have been complaints over the last six months about the forced closure of the Hennessy House unit. I have raised that in this Assembly before. The way that was managed upset a lot of people who were involved. Obviously, there is a lot more work to be done in mental health. I am not sure that it is just about funding. I think it is also about procedures and how we ensure national standards are met. The area of disabilities is one that has to be raised if it is not being properly supported. These are very vulnerable people in our community.

I am sorry that I have to say this again but I do, because as a local member in this parliament I am getting consistent feedback. I cannot accept that it is still going on in the way it is. A strong position has to be taken on mental health by whoever is in government after October. I will certainly continue to raise it and make it as big an issue as I can.

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