The Royal Commission’s Interim Report: Suicide Prevention – Recommendation 3
The Royal Commission recommends that the Victorian Government, through the Mental Health Implementation Office, expands follow-up care and support for people after a suicide attempt by recurrently funding all area mental health services to offer the Hospital Outreach Post-suicidal after Engagement (HOPE) program. To facilitate access to HOPE, the statewide rollout should be complemented by:
- broad referral pathways to give people living with mental illness who are receiving care from clinical community-based teams within area mental health services access to HOPE
- additional clinical outreach services in each sub-regional health service, networked to a regional health service HOPE program, to provide support for people living in rural and regional areas
- extended service delivery that allows access to support whenever it is needed, including outside standard business hours.
The Commission also recommends the creation, delivery and evaluation of the first phase of a new assertive outreach and follow-up care service for children and young people who have self-harmed or who are at risk of suicide.