Probe examines WA mental health services

There is to be an investigation into mental health services in Western Australia’s south-west.

There is to be an investigation into mental health services in Western Australia’s south-west.Bunbury and Perth will host community forums next month as part of a nation-wide look into deteriorating mental health systems and the risks mental illness sufferers and their families are exposed to.Mental Health Council chairman Keith Wilson says Bunbury mental health services are a national disgrace.”What we’ve had in the past month is the virtual withdrawal of access to quality mental health services, without any notice and without any consultation and that’s unheralded anywhere in Australia,” he said. “I was in the eastern states last week and when I told people over there, they’d never heard of a situation like Bunbury.”The probe will be carried out by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission and Mental Health Council.(Source: ABC News: June 2004)