S.TRUEMAN PhD THESIS 2016

55

Table 2.11 shows that only 4.1% of all people admitted to hospital (without specialist psychiatric care) via mental health patient separations were remote patients, which is consistent with the lack of ability to admit patients locally in remote areas and the difficulty of transport to metropolitan hospitals. On the same basis of comparison with Table 2.10, 2.9% represents an increase, but not a large percentage of all admissions; and second, 3,751 admitted remote mental health patients still did not receive specialist psychiatric care. The true worth of the increase is somewhat illusory. From the researcher’s working experience, both remotely and in the acute sector of metropolitan mental health units, these types of admissions are often ‘band-aid’ solutions in response to a crisis presentation, or where the patient has to leave the remote community for a while for another reason—for example, until an issue in the community or family is resolved. In such circumstances, the patient is often discharged without their mental health issues having been addressed or treated. Table 2.11 Admitted patient mental health-related separations without specialist psychiatric care* by patient demographic characteristics, 2009–2010. (Mental Health Services in Australia Database, AIHW, 2014d)

Major Cities 54,002

Inner Regional

Outer Regional

Remote

Very Remote

No. of separations * Percentage of total separations ** Rate of separation (per 1000 population)

20,613

12,365

2,494

1,257

59.5

22.7

13.6

2.7

1.4

3.5

4.8

6.1

8.0

7.8

* Numbers for each demographic may not add up to the total due to missing data. ** Does not include those separations for which the demographic information was missing.