Mental health services—Inpatient older age units
230. Hon Michelle Boylanto theparliamentary secretary representing the Minister for Health:
I refer to the regional provision of older age mental health services in Western Australia.
(1) External to the Perth metropolitan boundary, how many dedicated inpatient older age mental health units are operational in WA?
(2) What is the location of these inpatient older age mental health units, when did they become operational and what is the bed capacity of each unit?
(3) For the financial year 2023–24, how many regional older adults were transferred to Perth for older adult mental health unit care?
Hon Pierre Yang replied:
I thank the honourable member for some notice of the question and congratulate her on her first question. The following has been provided by the Minister for Health.
(1)–(3) The WA Country Health Service can accommodate older adults experiencing mental health issues at regional general hospitals and multipurpose sites with support from regional mental health teams. Where patients require a higher acuity of care, they are transferred to a metropolitan older adult mental health facility. In the 2023–24 financial year, six adults aged 65 years and above were transferred to a metropolitan site.
