$12million expansion of mental health services at Joondalup Health Campus

1/11/07
Construction work has begun on the expansion of mental health facilities at Joondalup Health Campus as part of the $276million redevelopment of the hospital.
Health Minister Jim McGinty said the project was part of the State Government's commitment to make it easier for people suffering severe mental illness to be admitted to an inpatient mental health bed.
"Under the plan, the Government will spend $12million expanding the existing mental health facility from 27 to 42 beds," Mr McGinty said.
"The number of beds that are secure will double from five to 10.
"The new beds will help ease the burden on emergency services in the northern suburbs, as well as on mental health services across the entire health system."
Director of Mental Health at Joondalup Health Campus, Professor Paul Skerritt, welcomed the project and said it would significantly ease the demand for mental health beds in the community.
"The demand for secure beds has been a particular concern and this project will make a huge contribution to the mental health of the northern suburbs and the whole State," he said.
Mental Health consumer representative Margaret Cook said the expansion would give more patients access to a mental health bed before they reached crisis point.
"That is so important because early intervention will also mean a quicker recovery and shorter stay in hospital," she said.
"Overall, the experience will be less disruptive for the patient, their family, the system, and will free up beds for other patients."
The Minister said the expansion was the first step towards Joondalup Health Campus becoming a tertiary hospital with 700 public beds by 2020.
"The mental health expansion is part of the $276million first stage of the Campus' redevelopment, which is due for completion in 2010," he said.
"The State Government will contribute $131million to increase the number of public beds in the facility from 280 to 471, double the size of the emergency department and expand other facilities.
"Private operators Ramsay Health Care will contribute the remaining $145million, which will see the construction of a new stand-alone private 165-bed hospital on the campus.
"Joondalup Health Campus is ideally located to service the hundreds of thousands of people who live in Perth's rapidly expanding northern suburbs. This redevelopment will ensure the facility is able to cater for the current and future demand of health services."
The expansion of the campus' mental health facility is one of a number of projects to boost the number of inpatient beds as part of the $173million Mental Health Strategy. These include the:

• 16-bed Ellis unit at Graylands Hospital, which includes four observation beds and 12 secure beds, opened in March 2007 ($5.5million);
• eight additional open beds at Armadale Hospital, opened 2006 ($650,000);
• a purpose built eight-bed mother and baby unit located at King Edward Memorial Hospital, with two secure beds. Opened in June 2007 ($2.6million). Treats more than 100 new mothers with a mental illness each year;
• an 18-bed expansion to the Bunbury Acute Psychiatric Unit at Bunbury Regional Hospital, with the first seven beds due to open in December ($7.73million). When fully operational, the unit will include eight secure beds, and;
• a new 18-bed subacute unit due to open at Bentley Hospital in January ($2.5million). These beds will all be open mental health beds.

• the provision of 47 intermediate care beds, of which 16 interim beds have been opened at Hawthorn House in Mount Hawthorn;
• the employment of 425 new mental health staff, of which 354 have been employed to date;
• an extra 400 community supported accommodation beds across the state, the first of these will open in Busselton (10 beds) Geraldton (14 beds), Albany (11 beds) in the coming months, with other projects under construction or in planning;
• specialist mental health teams have been established in metropolitan emergency departments and Geraldton Hospital's emergency department;
• 18 acute observation beds have been established at Joondalup Health Campus (four beds), Royal Perth Hospital (five beds), Fremantle Hospital (five beds) and Graylands Hospital (four beds); and
• significant investment for workforce recruitment, training and safety.