Dr. Susan Finnerty:

I can give a small example. We looked at physical care for people with mental illness who were in hospital and we found there was a lack of integration. People with mental illness were falling between the stools of acute hospital care, where they were unable to access services such as physiotherapy or speech and language therapy, and they were not part of the community so they were not able to access it there. They were not getting access to these services. Anecdotally, a number of acute units in acute hospitals found it quite difficult to integrate with the overall hospital so it is difficult to get physicians and surgeons to come and see patients in the ward. The patients must go to an outpatient appointment even though they are in the same hospital building. It is improving, but there is that them-and-us attitude.