Page 2732 - Week 09 - Thursday, 8 August 2013
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Part of that is making sure that furniture is as close to the home environment as possible to create a feeling of home, particularly for people who have to spend extended periods of time in the unit. It does not look like a hospital. In terms of where people can eat their meals, we have sought to create an expansive area where people can come out of their rooms and have their meals in a nice environment. Mr Smyth, I am sure you visited the previous psychiatric services unit, and it is nothing like that, and it was all designed with a particular focus on lifting the standards of amenity, which I think is completely acceptable.
One thing all of us should sit here and reflect on when we perhaps criticise and perhaps poke fun at expenditure on furniture is: what would you want for your kids? What would you want for your wife? Because that is who is living in the adult mental health unit. That is what happens. Would you want your partner to sit down and have a meal in a nice environment when they are undertaking therapy, or would you like them to be treated as they were treated in the psychiatric services unit? I know Mr Hanson never misses the opportunity to put something out and to have fun with it, but the reality is: what would you want for your loved one?
Mr Hanson interjecting—
MADAM SPEAKER: Mr Hanson! Mrs Jones has the floor with a supplementary question.
MRS JONES: Given this investment in infrastructure, what is the warranty period on such a table?
MS GALLAGHER: That would be set out in the arrangements with the contract. If that is not available online, I will seek to provide that information for you.
Health—mental health
MS PORTER: Madam Speaker, my question, through you, is to the Minister for Health. Minister, in relation to the report Obsessive hope disorder: reflections on 30 years of mental health reform in Australia and visions for the future, which was released on 6 August 2013, could the Minister inform the Assembly of the report’s findings in regard to the progress of mental health reform in the ACT?
MS GALLAGHER: I thank Ms Porter for the question. It follows on in the area of mental health, and I am sure people have been able to look at the Obsessive hope disorder report which did look back over 30 years of mental health reform in Australia and provide a report on where they believe mental systems are up to. It is a comprehensive review of mental health reform. It consists of three documents, the summary report, the perspectives report and the technical report.
Given the ACT’s significant achievements in mental health reform over the past decade, I was invited to contribute a perspective piece to the report, reflecting on my experience as health minister and the government’s work in providing different, new and improved treatment and care options for some of the community’s most vulnerable citizens.
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