THE ACT government has lost the opportunity to keep people out of hospital, according to the Mental Health Community Coalition ACT (MHCC ACT) following the release of the 2019-20 ACT Budget. 

While it welcomes new ACT government investment in mental health, executive officer Simon Viereck says the investments in the budget will ease pressures in acute and inpatient services, but won’t do much to keep people well and out of hospital.

“It’s a bit of a lost opportunity to instead divert people away from an acute inpatient experience by intervening earlier and providing community based supports,” he says.

“Last year’s budget delivered strong investment in community based accommodation supports, but we still see gaps in the types of supports that help people stay well on a day to day basis and avoid episodes of illness and hospitalisation.”

Over the next four years the ACT government has committed $6.98 to increasing staff in the Adult Mental Health Unit at Canberra Hospital.

Mr Viereck says this recognises that the unit is running over capacity and effectively brings the staffing levels up to the level of de facto bed occupancy.

“It’s doesn’t deliver more service, but should improve the quality of service,” he says.

Mr Viereck says the coalition is also concerned about the establishment of an electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) service at the Canberra Hospital.

“ECT is an effective last option treatment for some people, but we haven’t seen any indication that consumers have been asking for better access to this treatment,” he says.