Responding to mental health crises in the community
Overview
Mental illness touches many lives. Nearly one in five Victorians experience mental illness each year. While many people successfully manage, or recover from, mental illness, there can be times when a person is so acutely unwell they may become a risk to themselves or others. This is a mental health crisis.
This audit assessed the coordination, preparation, and effectiveness of police, ambulance and mental health triage and Crisis Assessment and Treatment (CAT)service responses to mental health crises. As such, the audit did not examine the broader mental health service system. It examined the Department of Health, four Area Mental Health Services, Victoria Police and Ambulance Victoria to assess whether:
- agency responses to mental health crises are coordinated
- agencies are adequately prepared to respond to mental health crises, and respond appropriately
- agencies can show the effectiveness of their responses to mental health crises.