Emergency Department Models of Care 2012 - NSW Health

Mental Health LiaisonNursesApproximately 60 mental health Clinical Nurse Consultants (CNC) and mental health nursepractitioners are now operating in rural and metropolitan hospitals offering both ambulatorymental health assessments to Emergency Departments and consultation liaison support togeneral hospitals. These nurses also provide education and direct clinical care (triage,assessment, treatment).The balance of functions for Mental Health Liaison Nurses varies between hospital sites. Inlarger hospitals they may be part of a broader Consult Liaison Service. In most sites thisservice operates Monday to Friday between 8am and 5pm.The majority of hospitals at delineation level 3 and above are also funded to provide mentalhealth staff 16 hours per day and on-call overnight to coordinate community emergencymental health responses. This includes assisting the Ambulance Service and Police to accessappropriate care. Many of these funded positions are allocated to or also support the localPECC or Consult Liaison functions.Benefits of the model ■ Staff with the appropriate skills are available to provide effective and timely outcomes formental health consumers, and are more closely aligned to ED demand■■Improved relationships with Mental Health Services and ED cliniciansImproved access to care for mental health consumers in the ED.Case for implementationTo assess the need to implement this model to support your ED, consider the following:■■■■Does your ED experience inefficient patient flow?Do mental health patients experience delays in accessing appropriate care and anextended length of stay in ED?What is the proportion of mental health admissions from your ED?Is your Hospital meeting 4-hour national emergency access targets?Monitoring andevaluation■■■■■■■% of ED patients with an ED LOS < 4 hoursNumber of mental health presentations to the ED% of mental health patients with an ED LOS < 8 hoursTime to mental health assessment/consultationLOS in PECC% discharged to home from PECCReadmission rate within 28 days of PECC discharge.Models of Emergency Care NSW HEALTH PAGE 57