Mental Health Patients

In reply to Mr PICTON (Kaurna) (30 July 2021). (Estimates Committee B)

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing): I have been advised:

1. The average visit time for mental health patients in metropolitan emergency departments in the 2020-21 financial year was 652 minutes.

2. The average visit time for mental health patients in metropolitan emergency departments in the 2019/20 financial year was 679 minutes. The average visit time in 2020-21 decreased by 27 minutes per patient.

3.

4. The number of mental health patients in metropolitan emergency departments who waited more than 24 hours for admission in 2020-21 was 1,457. This is a reduction of 159 patients compared to 2019-20 (1,616).

5. The number of mental health patients in metropolitan emergency departments who waited more than 48 hours (>2,880 minutes) for admission in 2020/21 was 449. This is a reduction of 78 patients compared to 2019-20 (527).

6. This was originally reported for the 12 month period of March 2020 to February 2021. As part of the usual data cleansing/finalisation process this value is now 1,441.

There were 20,351 metropolitan mental health ED presentations during that period which equates to 5 per cent of patients.

7. The longest wait time for admission in 2020-21 was 7,322 minutes, which is 220 hours or 5 days.