May 2008

Reform, refocus for mental health

Victorians with a mental illness will benefit from a new focus on prevention, early intervention and recovery with the State Budget including $111 million over the next four years to begin implementing a new mental health reform strategy.

Minister for Mental Health Lisa Neville said Victorian families needed a system that spotted the warning signs of mental illness, intervened early and focused on helping patients recover—not a system that waited until a crisis erupted and resulted in a long stay in hospital.

‘To deliver a more responsive mental health system, we will launch the Mental Health Reform Strategy in late 2008 but we are kick-starting the reform through early investments in the Budget.

‘There is a particular focus on children and young people, because we know we can often prevent a lifetime of mental illness if we act as soon as we spot the first signs of trouble.’

Ms Neville said the massive funding boost announced in the Budget was one of the biggest in Victorian history for mental health and included major new initiatives such as:

•           $16.8 million over four years for new integrated children and youth services, and family support, to help prevent the onset of mental illness in young people before conditions become chronic;

•           $10.4 million over four years towards a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week statewide mental health information and referral service for Victorian families, similar to Nurse-on-Call;

•           $5.5 million over four years for a trial of a new mental health triage service to ensure patients were quickly directed to the most appropriate service.

The Government is also providing $6.6 million over four years to match anticipated Commonwealth funding for new screening initiatives for mothers at risk of post-natal depression.

Housing Minister Richard Wynne said an $8.7 million four-year leading-edge program would address the link between mental illness and homelessness by developing individual packages for the chronically-homeless to address mental health needs while providing accommodation.

‘The link between homelessness and mental illness is well-known and this model will help us to treat both conditions together,’ Mr Wynne said.

Ms Neville said the Budget also acted to boost the capacity of the mental health system.

‘Funding of $39.1 million will be committed to build and staff new Prevention and Recovery Care Services (PARCS) facilities to provide places for patients who are not sick enough for hospital but not yet well enough to go home,’ Ms Neville said.

‘This stage of the project will provide 30 new beds in three new community-based facilities in Ringwood, Clayton and Frankston, delivering the 2006 commitment to the development of 70 new PARCS beds in Victoria.’

Other Budget mental health initiatives include:

•           $15.5 million for works at Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital, including the Centre for Trauma-Related Mental Health Services. The Centre is a redevelopment of the Veterans’ Psychiatry Unit and will provide a 20-bed unit for inpatients and outpatients, treating veterans and non-veterans;

•           $5.5 million to reconfigure the mental health Adult Acute Unit at Ballarat Hospital to improve access and client amenity and to refurbish Ballarat’s Queen Victoria building to accommodate Community Mental Health facilities;

•           $3 million for Dandenong Hospital redevelopment planning.

The package also includes $8.3 million over four years for mental health services at Maroondah and Lilydale and to address additional demand pressure in public hospitals and about $600,000 annually to stabilise eating disorder services while a comprehensive review is undertaken.

Ms Neville said the Budget also included $6.5 million in additional support for Government hospitals to meet changing mental health demands in the community.