Page 1270 - Week 05 - Thursday, 4 June 2020
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delivery of this service with key Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations, elders and the elected body. In the recent mental health support package, I announced that $250,000 would be allocated to the provision of an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health program. Once the needs analysis has been completed, it will be released for tender. I look forward to this important program commencing.
Mr Assistant Speaker, as you can see, much of what Mrs Dunne is calling for is already underway through various mechanisms.
We know how important the patient journey is when engaging with the public health system, and improvements must always be made. Canberra Health Services has introduced several strategies over the last year to assist with reducing waiting times in the emergency department and in increasing capacity across the entire system by establishing a territory-wide patient flow coordinator role, which provides increased visibility of bed capacity, including at Calvary Public Hospital Bruce, and supports a proactive approach to increasing the movement of patients.
In terms of reviewing the capacity of health system facilities, there is a territory-wide mental health management committee, which was established in May 2019. The priorities of this committee include obtaining better clarity of data on bed usage, infrastructure to support patient flow and need across the whole of the territory, clarification of governance mechanisms, and the establishment of shared training and education for staff to ensure consistency of care across the services. This committee reviews and forecasts mental health needs across the territory to identify necessary improvements.
I will touch briefly on the request for a review of models of care. The models of care, which—in conjunction with the policy and procedures—provide guidance on the provision of clinical care and patient safety, are reviewed through a review and audit of clinical practice. All work undertaken as part of the clinical governance of Canberra Health Services is reported back into the governance system to ensure ongoing improvement.
When it comes to patient and staff safety issues, as my amendment outlines, the adult mental health unit has seen a 32 per cent reduction in reported occupational violence in the period November 2019 to January 2020 compared to the same quarter in 2018-19. This is a significant improvement.
The CHS occupational violence strategy outlines the commitment to the provision of a safe and healthy working environment. Reducing occupational violence is a high priority for Canberra Health Services, with a primary focus on prevention. Further, the safe wards program is being trialled in the ACT’s public mental health services, which is highly effective in reducing and containing conflict and in increasing a sense of safety and mutual support for staff and patients. The model is focused on supporting staff to identify and understand the triggers for conflict so that staff are able to improve care by being able to intervene early to, essentially, reduce conflict, violence, containment and restraint.
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