Page 5052 - Week 13 - Thursday, 29 November 2018
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mid-October and the access mental health team and the home assessment acute response team in November. These are exciting and significant milestones for the rollout of this the new model of care.
The access team will provide a centralised access point for mental health advice and new referrals across the ACT. This service will also provide a priority service to the general practitioners, including a dedicated phone line to enhance ACT mental health services’ partnership with the primary health sector. HAART will focus on supporting early discharge from mental health inpatient units and providing intensive support to maintain people in the community, as well as providing an acute response to people experiencing mental health crises in the community. With the launches of these new services, the model of care allows timely access to inpatient services and helps to avoid people’s conditions worsening to the extent that hospital-based care is the only option.
Finally, I want to further outline our response to workplace violence and aggression. Canberra Health Services is committed to providing a safe working environment for all staff. In particular, the ACT government is delivering on its election commitment to develop a nurse safety strategy. We have been working with staff unions such as the ANMF and other key stakeholders in the development of this strategy. Mental health environments, as particularly challenging areas of health services delivery, have been highlighted as a focus area of the strategy. The strategy is being developed by the chief nurse and is now close to being finalised.
In addition to the strategy, Canberra Health Services has commenced development of an occupational violence strategy that will help to define best practice in managing occupational violence across the whole organisation. The working group for this strategy is chaired by the chief executive officer and membership is being drawn from more than 300 workplace health and safety representatives from across Canberra Health Services.
ACT Health also has a range of policies and procedures to ensure the safety of its staff. Specifically in mental health, we have a framework for the management of aggression and violence across inpatient and community settings; strategies to ensure that all staff have access to ongoing training and professional development opportunities; specific training for casual and relief pool staff to ensure they are orientated to local policies and procedures; and mental health is starting a discussion with consumer, carer and staff groups on the recommendation from the external review to consider the implementation of CCTV and other aids in our inpatient units.
Aggression and violence are not okay. Everyone has the right to feel safe at work. As minister, I have made it clear that my expectation is that ACT Health and Canberra Health Services will continue to work with our staff in our mental health units, listen to their concerns and respond where we can. Some of the changes will take time, but we are committed to continuing the conversation and adapting as required.
I and the government have an ongoing commitment to improving mental health services for the Canberra community. We know that mental health issues are becoming increasingly common as we work to break down the stigma and encourage
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