Number of specialised mental health public hospital beds
In Western Australia, the number of public hospital beds increased in real numbers since the low point of 639 in 2001-02. Measured by 100.000 population the number of beds decreased from 43.6 to 29.5 since 1993-94.
Number of specialised mental health public hospital beds - Western Australia
Graph: Number of mental health public hospital beds WA. Source: AIHW data: Specialised mental health care facilities tables 2019-20. Table FAC.13.
Mental health emergency department presentations
Along with the bed capacity reduction, rate of emergency department presentations per 10,000 population in Western Australia almost tripled: from 50.7 in 2004-05 to 144.5 in 2020-21.
Rate of ED presentations per 10,000 population - Western Australia
Graph: ED presentations per 10,000 population WA. Source: AIHW data Mental Health Services Provided in emergency departments data tables 2020-21
The triaging data for Western Australia’s emergency department mental health presentations has been steady over the six years, since 2015-16. The biggest increase has been in presentations triaged as emergency (to be seen within 15 minutes) of 2.1 per cent.
Mental health related emergency department presentations in public hospitals by triage category 2015-16 to 2020-21 in Western Australia - per cent
Graph: Mental health-related emergency department presentations in public hospitals, by triage category, per cent WA 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
In Western Australia in 2020-21 ED median length of stay for all mental health presentations was 4 hours and 9 minutes. For presentations ending in admissions, median length of stay was 5 hours and 21 minutes. 90th percentile length of stay for mental health presentations ending in admissions was 18 hours and 53 minutes.55 The table below shows the change over the last 5 years.
Source: AIHW Data: Mental Health Services Provided in emergency departments data tables 2016-17 to 2020-21
Emergency department mental health presentations – ambulance arrival
While the overall number of patients who arrived at emergency departments with ambulance as the mode of arrival stayed relatively the same in the 5-year period since 2016, the number of mental health ED presentations where ambulance was the mode or arrival grew by 4 per cent. It appears that the annual biggest increase happened between 2019-20 and 2020-21, which were COVID-19 pandemic years.
Mental health presentations ambulance arrival mode - Western Australia
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 Western Australia in 2019-20 the average length of stay in public hospitals for mental health patients was 13.8 days, slightly above the national average.
Average length of stay for mental health patients in public hospitals - Western Australia
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
55AIHW 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