Well-resourced, purpose-built assessment units can ease pressure on EDs while improving safety and reducing distress for patients and staff.
Emergency physicians have welcomed early consultation with decision-makers, noting that continued clinical involvement will be essential to ensure the units are safe, clearly governed, protect ED capacity and genuinely improve care for people in crisis.
The College has consistently emphasised that successful implementation of purpose-build assessment spaces depends on:
- Preserving ED capacity
- Operating as dedicated services, distinct from ED care delivery
- Establishing clear clinical and operational responsibility
- Robust governance, escalation pathways and accountability
- A defined workforce plan to ensure safe and sustainable staffing
- Guaranteed availability of trained hospital security officers
- Continuing clinician engagement in design, implementation and evaluation
ACEM SA Branch Chair Dr Dan Haustead said that properly-planned and purpose-built mental health assessment units would enhance the safety of both patients and staff, and that the College looked forward to working with the government, and with mental health and drug and alcohol services, to ensure their success.
”People experiencing a mental health, drug or alcohol crisis deserve care in a safe, calm environment that is appropriate to their needs. Emergency doctors want every patient who seeks emergency care to be treated with dignity and support, and purpose-built mental health assessment units alongside emergency departments have the potential to improve both patient experience and safety,” Dr Dan Haustead said.
”For these units to deliver the best outcomes, they must be well integrated with emergency departments and the broader hospital system. ACEM looks forward to working with government and mental health clinicians to help ensure patients receive timely, compassionate and effective care when they need it most.”
/ends
Background:
ACEM is the peak body for emergency medicine in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, responsible for training emergency physicians and advancement of professional standards. www.acem.org.au
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