Australia’s National Mental Health Service Planning Framework: Are opinion-based algorithms driving mental health policy?

Stephen Allison; Tarun Bastiampillai; Jeffrey C.L. Looi; David Copolov

doi:10.1177/0004867420945772

Australia’s National Mental Health Service Planning Framework: Are opinion-based algorithms driving mental health policy?

Stephen Allison, Tarun Bastiampillai, Jeffrey C.L. Looi, David Copolov

College of Medicine and Public Health

Research output: Contribution to journal › Comment/debate

9 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The National Mental Health Service Planning Framework (NMHSPF) aims to translate evidence into policy (Whiteford et al., 2013). Based on this apparently solid foundation, the NMHSPF is used to allocate resources in Australia’s public hospital and community mental health sectors, affecting the working lives of public sector psychiatrists around the country. Some State/Territory Governments are relying on the NMHSPF to solve major problems such as emergency department (ED) access block (Allison et al., 2020)—where patients experience extended stays in EDs while awaiting admission, and may be discharged early to free up beds before receiving adequate inpatient treatment. Premature discharge can be associated with heightened risks of suicide, aggression, incarceration and homelessness.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1149-1151
Number of pages	3
Journal	Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry
Volume	54
Issue number	12
Early online date	5 Aug 2020
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/0004867420945772
Publication status	Published - Dec 2020

Keywords

National Mental Health Service Planning Framework (NMHSPF)
mental health policy
community mental health
public sector psychiatrists
Emergency department (ED)

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1177/0004867420945772Licence: In Copyright

Cite this

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Australia’s National Mental Health Service Planning Framework: Are opinion-based algorithms driving mental health policy?

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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