An examination of the profile and journey of patients with mental illness in the emergency department.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the profile and journey of patients with mental illness in the emergency departments (ED) of a Local Health District in Australia. There is limited evidence around the patient profile and journey of people in who present to EDs with mental illness, and the aim of this study was to inform the development of a psychiatric emergency service model. METHODS: The study design was a retrospective descriptive analysis of routinely collected data of two hospital EDs. Retrospective health care data of patients who presented to the EDs between July 2016 and June 2017 was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. RESULTS: Mental health presentations (N = 4506) consisted of 3.44% of all presentations to the Emergency Department, mostly for anxiety and stress, comorbid alcohol and drug issues, and suicidality. Females were more likely to present, and significantly more likely to present multiple times (specifically for age groups 12-17 and over 65). Presenting issues were associated with age and gender for most diagnostic groups, but not with number of presentations, except for personality disorder. 24.83% were admitted to a mental health inpatient unit, 54.34% were referred to a mental health community team, 4.63% medically, and the remaining referred to alcohol and drug services, GPs, or NGOs. Length of stay was associated with gender (female), age (>65) and diagnosis (drug related and eating disorder). CONCLUSION: There is limited evidence around the patient profile and journey of people who present to EDs for mental health reasons, and this study contributes to this literature.

The art and science of using routine outcome measurement in mental health benchmarking.

OBJECTIVE: To report and critique the application of routine outcome measurement data when benchmarking Australian mental health services. METHOD: The experience of the authors as participants and facilitators of benchmarking activities is augmented by a review of the literature regarding mental health benchmarking in Australia. RESULTS: Although the published literature is limited, in practice, routine outcome measures, in particular the Health of the National Outcomes Scales (HoNOS) family of measures, are used in a variety of benchmarking activities. Use in exploring similarities and differences in consumers between services and the outcomes of care are illustrated. This requires the rigour of science in data management and interpretation, supplemented by the art that comes from clinical experience, a desire to reflect on clinical practice and the flexibility to use incomplete data to explore clinical practice. CONCLUSIONS: Routine outcome measurement data can be used in a variety of ways to support mental health benchmarking. With the increasing sophistication of information development in mental health, the opportunity to become involved in benchmarking will continue to increase. The techniques used during benchmarking and the insights gathered may prove useful to support reflection on practice by psychiatrists and other senior mental health clinicians.