Implementation and Processes of National Strategy on Mental Health and Well-being

Miss Cheryl Chan Wei Ling asked the Minister for Health regarding the focus areas in the national strategy on mental health and well-being (a) what indicators are developed to measure the effectiveness of its implementation progress; (b) what has been done to streamline processes and systems between social and healthcare providers; and (c) which area of resources have been made to better support workers in the mental health sector.

The Interagency Taskforce for Mental Health and Well-being has made recommendations to improve the accessibility, coordination and quality of mental health services. These include establishing a tiered care structure and harmonising referral workflows and assessment tools, to enable community mental health teams to collaborate seamlessly with social care services. A common Information Technology platform would also be a key enabler to enhance information sharing and care coordination. The implementation plans for the recommendation are in progress. More details will be provided when ready.

Concurrently, there are ongoing efforts to improve training and support for healthcare workers in the mental health sector. The National Mental Health Competency Training Workgroup is developing a competency training framework that will enable mental health workers to acquire the requisite knowledge and competencies for delivering high quality and effective care. Mental health workers from the community mental health teams, such as Community Resource Engagement Support Team (CREST) and Community Intervention Team (COMIT), also attend regular mental health training programmes.

Besides mental health capability building, CREST and COMIT have enhanced workplace support for their staff through more emphasis on self-care, including helpful ways to prevent and cope with burnout, and strengthened supervisory arrangements to support staff.

The Taskforce recommendations, including indicators to be developed to monitor the progress of the recommendations, will be included in the development of a national strategy for mental health and well-being by the end of the year.