31 May 2008

In November 2006, the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards (ACHS) was awarded the Tender to conduct a review of the National Standards for Mental Health Services (NSMHS). The project was commissioned by the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing (DoHA) with the support of the Mental Health Standing Committee and the Safety and Quality Partnership Subcommittee (SQPS). The project consisted of three phases, the last of which concluded on May 31, 2008.

Phase 1

At the start of the project, a Steering Group was set up to act in an advisory capacity, consisting of representatives from a broad spectrum of key stakeholders, including Commonwealth and state / territory departments of health, area mental health services, non-government organisations, private mental health services, as well as consumer and carer groups. During this phase, consultation about the review of the NSMHS (1996) occurred with representatives from services including aged care, disability and forensic mental health services; the private hospital representative body (APHA); accreditation and review agencies, public, private and non-government mental health services, including child and adolescent services, consumer and carer groups, as well as a number of individuals from a range of sectors and settings.

The information from these consultations was analysed and used to inform the revision of the NSMHS (1996).

Phase 2

In phase 2, working groups were established to provide ongoing consultation and expert advice. Membership of the working groups included members with a professional background in the medical specialties of psychiatry, nursing, occupational therapy, social work, non-government organisation advocates, consumers and carers, all with experience of the public and private sector, and legal representatives.

With the assistance of the Steering Group and working groups, a set of revised NSMHS was developed and released for field review. Feedback was received via an on-line survey, email, telephone and post from mental health professionals, allied health professionals, primary care providers, consumers, carers and other interested stakeholders. As well as field review, organisations participated in a desk-top audit of the revised NSMHS. Feedback from these processes further refined the revised NSMHS in preparation for on-site pilot surveys. Pilot survey sites were selected, and self assessments were completed during phase 2 of the project.

Phase 3

The third and final phase of the project involved the pilot survey of six mental health organisations, including private, public, rural and remote, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander services, child and adolescent, and community and aged care services, from 12 to 25 February 2008. The pilot surveys sought feedback on the applicability of the standards, criteria and supporting information as well as the issues of implementation, monitoring and assessment from the perspective of the mental health services, the surveyors and an accrediting body.

Following the pilot surveys, the Steering Group further revised the NSMHS for submission to the Commonwealth.

Finalisation

During the course of the project to revise the NSMHS (1996), several reports were submitted to the Commonwealth, with the revised NSMHS and the final report was completed at the end of May 2008.

The Safety and Quality Partnership Subcommittee (SQPS) are responsible for providing a recommendation to the Australian Health Ministers’ Advisory Council (AHMAC) Mental Health Standing Committee, regarding the final set of revised NSMHS. AHMAC will then determine whether or not they will endorse the revised NSMHS. The timeline for implementation of the revised NSMHS will be decided by the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing (DoHA), once AHMAC has made its determination about the revised NSMHS.

The ACHS would like to take this opportunity to thank the many organisations and individuals that assisted in the revision of the National Standards for Mental Health Services. We believe that the resulting product will be beneficial for both mental health services and their consumers.