Page 3261 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 21 August 2019
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MR MILLIGAN: Minister, why have you failed, then, to convince your colleagues to retain the funding for the domestic violence service?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: I thank Mr Milligan for the question and refer him to my previous answer.
MR HANSON: Yes or no: will the job cuts be restored at Legal Aid, or not?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: I thank Mr Hanson and refer him to the comments that the Attorney-General, I believe, has previously made in relation to this matter.
Health—adult mental health unit
MISS C BURCH: My question is to the Minister for Mental Health. Minister, what is the national capacity benchmark for adult mental health units, and at what level will the ACT operate through the 2019-20 financial year?
MR RATTENBURY: I will provide that significant level of detail to Miss Burch on notice.
MISS C BURCH: Minister, how do you know that patients will not continue to be, at worst, turned away or, at best, held in the emergency department for unacceptable lengths of time during 2019-20?
MR RATTENBURY: I do not accept the premise of Miss Burch’s question, but what I can say is that we are working very hard to ensure that Canberra residents who present with mental health concerns get the service they need. That will be in a range of places. Some will be through the emergency department; some will be through their local GP; some will be through our community mental health centres.
Last year we implemented a new model of care for the adult community mental health centres. That has reduced the waiting times and seen a significant improvement in morale for our staff as well because they are able to see their patients in a more effective way. They feel less stressed by the reduction in pressure through that system. This is an example of the sorts of measures that Canberra Health Services and the ACT Health Directorate are putting in place to ensure that we provide the services the community expects.
MRS DUNNE: Minister, will work to remove ligature points in the adult mental health unit continue to create bed availability problems during this financial year and, if so, for how long and why could you not provide Miss Burch with two simple figures?
MR RATTENBURY: The ligature work is currently well underway and the completion will be over the coming months. I am pleased to be able to inform the Assembly that there has actually been some spare bed capacity at the adult mental health unit in recent times. The concerns that Mrs Dunne is raising have not been a significant issue for us.
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