Did you know that 75% of mental health problems occur before age 25 and is estimated about 45% of Australians may experience mental illness at some point in their lives (Beyond Blue, 2021). Further work is most certainly needed to build awareness and knowledge within this domain.

On the bright side…

Safer Care Victoria (SCV) and the Victoria Agency for Health Information (VAHI) were created from recent government reforms to improve quality and safety across Victoria’s public healthcare system.

They work together closely – using data, insights and evidence to flag emerging issues and drive improvements in healthcare quality and patient safety. As a first step in setting up the new network, a strategic planning day was held in early July 2018 and outcomes and learnings from the day were shared more broadly.

Approximately 100 people from a diverse cross section of clinical mental health services attended, including those with lived experience and interested organisations.

Attendees discussed the various quality and safety challenges across clinical mental health services in Victoria and helped inform the strategic priorities for the network for the next three years.

The event was supported by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Mental Health Branch, particularly the Victorian Office of the Chief Psychiatrist.

SCV will work with the clinical lead and governance committees to refine the network’s work plan and align the strategic focus with mental health quality and safety directions of the department, health services and interested bodies.

You might be thinking, so what? This is one the very important first steps in managing this risk more broadly, talking about it in a open forum where opinions and insights can be shared, replicated or improved.

Lets keep the channels open and work towards eliminating the stigma that comes with mental health problems.