A Shorten Labor Government will improve emergency mental health services for people on the Mornington Peninsula.
Labor will establish a new Mental Health Admission and Treatment Unit alongside Frankston Hospital’s emergency department. The new six bed unit will provide rapid specialist assessment and care for patients presenting to the emergency department with mental illness.
Rapid assessment and care is critical for patients with mental illness. Labor’s $2.2 million commitment will help meet their needs by providing the right resources.
The new unit will also help to ease pressure on Frankston Hospital’s emergency department, consistent with the recommendations of the Victorian Government’s Travis Review into hospital beds.
Mental health is a serious and growing challenge on the Mornington Peninsula. Challenges facing families and communities, such as depression, youth suicide, alcohol and drug abuse and family violence are often tied to underlying mental illness that is not well treated.
The number of mental health assessment requests at Frankston Hospital has increased by almost 50 per cent in the past two years. The result is that everyone must wait longer for assessment and care, and that patients are admitted without the time for appropriate assessment.
This new unit will improve clinical care for mental health patients, ease pressure in the emergency department and improve the experience of other emergency department users.
Labor’s commitment to Frankston Hospital builds on its investment in public hospitals around Australia. A Shorten Labor Government will invest an additional $2 billion in hospitals. This commitment includes specific investments to reduce waiting times in emergency departments and for elective surgery.
Labor’s commitments to Frankston Hospital and hospitals around Australia are further proof that only Labor believes that all Australians deserve the best possible health care, regardless of what they earn or where they live.
Authorised by G. Wright, Australian Labor Party, 5/9 Sydney Ave, Barton, ACT 2600