A regional New South Wales public hospital will soon close its mental health inpatient facility, in favour of a home-based service.

The ABC reports voluntary patients at Kempsey District Hospital will either be transferred to a new “hospital in the home” program or a neighbouring hospital, while involuntary patients will be transferred to Port Macquarie Base Hospital, 55 kilometres away.

The NSW government says if the hospital in the home program is successful, it could be rolled out across the state.

While some locals have raised concerns about the risks of care at home, the move is the next step in a long process of establishing good mental health care in the community.

Governments committed to de-institutionalisation about 40 years ago, promising a range of services to support people with mental illness to live well and get the treatment they need in the community.

However, this shift has been slow going.

Our mental health system is under enormous pressure. The amount of funding mental health receives as a share of total health spending, about 7%, hasn’t changed since 1992.

But the burden of disease attributable to mental health and addictions has. It now accounts for around 15% of the total disease burden.

Australia’s response........

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