2022 Public hospital report card - mental health edition

State by state public hospital performance - Tasmania

Number of specialised mental health public hospital beds

The biggest reduction in mental health beds in public hospitals in Australia happened in Tasmania, where the number of beds reduced from 251 in 1992-93 to 103 in 2019-20. Measured by 100.000 population, Tasmania reduced its public hospital mental health beds by almost two thirds (63.5 per cent), from 52 to 19.⁵⁸ This could be one potential explanation as to why Tasmania has the longest emergency department stay time for mental health patients who are triaged for admission, who can wait up to 28 hours to be admitted.

Number of specialised mental health public hospital beds - Tasmania

Graph: Number of mental health public hospital beds TAS. Source: AIHW data: Specialised mental health care facilities tables 2019-20. Table FAC.13.

Mental health emergency department presentations

Number of emergency department presentation has grown steadily since 2004-05 in Tasmania, but at a smaller rate than some other states and territories, from 93.6 to 113.2 per 10,000 population in 2020-21.

Rate of ED presentations per 10,000 population - Tasmania

Graph: ED presentations per 10,000 population tas. Source: AIHW data Mental Health Services Provided in emergency departments data tables 2020-21

ED triage category data for Tasmania since 2015-16 shows a spike of almost 5 per cent (4.7) in mental health presentations triaged as emergency (to be seen within 15 minutes).

Mental health related emergency department presentations in public hospitals by triage category 2015-16 to 2020-21 in Tasmania - per cent

Graph: Mental health-related emergency department presentations in public hospitals, by triage category, per cent TAS Source: AIHW Data: Mental Health Services Provided in emergency departments data tables 2015-16 to 2020–21

Emergency Department mental health treatment times – ED length of stay

IIn Tasmania in 2020-21 ED median length of stay for all mental health presentations was 5 hours and 27 minutes. For presentations ending in admissions, median length of stay was 9 hours and 9 minutes. 90th percentile length of stay for mental health presentations ending in admissions was 28 hours and 33 minutes.⁵⁹ Tasmania is one of the worst performers on this parameter.

Source: AIHW Data: Mental Health Services Provided in emergency departments data tables 2016-17 to 2020-21

Mental health emergency department presentations – ambulance arrival

Mental health related presentations in emergency departments where the mode of arrival was ambulance grew by 9.2 per cent from 2016 to 2020-21. At the same time, ambulance as mode of arrival for all presentations grew by only 3.7 per cent.

Mental health presentations ambulance arrival mode - Tasmania

Graph: Mental health ED Presentations ambulance arrival mode. Source: AIHW Data Mental Health Services Provided in emergency departments data tables 2016-17 to 2020-21

Overnight admitted mental health care

In 2019-20, average length of stay for mental health patients in Tasmania was just above the national average, by 0.8 days.

Average length of stay for mental health patients in public hospitals - Tasmania

Graph: Average length of stay for mental health patients in public hospitals. Source: AIHW 2022. Web report: Mental Health Services in Australia. Overnight admitted mental health care. Overnight admitted mental health related care tables, Table ON.1.

Sources

⁵⁸AIHW 2022. Specialised mental health care facilities tables 2019-20. Table FAC.13. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/mental-health-services/mental-health-services-in-australia/report-content/specialised-facilities

⁵⁹AIHW 2022. Mental Health Services Provided in Emergency Departments. Table ED.17: Mental health-related emergency department presentations in public hospitals, statistics for length of stay by states and territories, 2020–21