The Tasmanian Government has announced plans to improve the delivery of care to older people with mental health conditions after an investigation found that Tasmania's top mental health facility was delivering care "well below an acceptable level".
In July, an investigation into Roy Fagan Centre’s mental health services found that poor levels of care had occurred due to a "culmination of numerous factors", including staff unavailability, insufficient resourcing, and inadequate education and training of staff.
To overcome these issues the government has allocated an initial $1 million to develop a model of care for older persons mental health that meets the future needs of the Tasmanian community, in addition to the $108 million in new funding for mental health and wellbeing in the Tasmanian budget.
Key areas that have been identified for improvement include communication, patient flow, resourcing, and clinical governance processes.
Tasmanian Government: Improving mental health care for older Tasmanians