The numbers of young people,and people who have intentionally self-harmed, continue to attend hospital inrising numbers.
The independent report releasedtoday by the Bureau of Health Information, Healthcarein Focus: People’s use and experiences of mental health care in NSW, highlightsintentional self-harm, youth mental health, and emergency department use bypeople with mental health issues.
The NSW Government is investinga record $2.1 billion into mental health services and infrastructure for peopleliving with mental illness, their families and carers.
Dr Nigel Lyons, NSW HealthDeputy Secretary, said the report also shows most people receiving mentalhealth services in the community and hospitals are young people, with emergencydepartment presentations and admitted episodes for 15-24 year olds up 23 percent over four years.
“NSW has around 700 mentalhealth facilities, including more than 50 hospitals with mental health unitsand more than 500 community mental health teams. Each year they provide morethan 40,000 episodes of hospital care and more than 3 million communitycontacts to more than 130,000 community clients,” Dr Lyons said.
“It is no surprise to seehigh numbers of young people using mental health services, with the average ageof onset for most mental health conditions in the early twenties.
“These numbers show our effortsto reduce stigma are making a difference, as increasing numbers of peopleseeking care may represent an increased willingness to seek treatment.”
Dr Lyons said the also reporthighlights the large number of people in NSW accessing health services to helpthem with intentional self-harm.
“Every life lost to suicideis a tragedy. Suicide prevention is everybody’s business and there is stillmuch work to do.”
“The NSW Government haslaunched an investment of $87 million over three years to implement theStrategic Framework for Suicide Prevention 2018-2023. This will complement theNSW Premier’s Priority of reducing the suicide rate by 20 per cent by 2023,” hesaid.
NSW is committed todelivering mental health care in the least restrictive environment, which inmost cases will be community care. The NSW Government is continuing to shiftmore care into the community through the NSW Mental Health Reform, which isallocated over $100 million in the 2019-20 budget.
