In the news

DNA and antidepressants

WA psychiatrist and UWA head of psychiatry Professor Sean Hood and director of the Office of Population Health Genomics Kristen Nowak are part of a new $2.95 million project that will analyse a person’s genetic makeup to determine the best treatment for depression.

The funding has been provided through the Commonwealth Government’s Medical Research Future Fund. Prof Hood said about half of patients with moderate to severe depression did not see a positive result from the first will undergo a brain scan and provide a swab for a

medication prescribed, with as many as two-thirds failing to achieve long-term relief. “It can often take weeks or months to get the right medication and dosage for a severely depressed patient and when the right medication is found it can also take weeks or months for it to take effect,” he said. “This is long turnaround times.

a risky time for severely depressed patients who might become really unwell and require hospitalisation. not effective or worsens their condition, and some may even attempt suicide.”

“It’s difficult for doctors because they need to make important decisions about what antidepressants to prescribe, without having an understanding of how an individual’s chemistry might react to them.” The study will enrol 550 people including 275 from WA. The WA study will run through Sir Charles Gairdner and Hollywood Private hospitals. Study participants pharmacogenomic (PG) test, which shows the biochemical process that affects the way individuals break down medications.

Prof Hood said PG testing had been available for many years but until now it had been expensive and involved “Many could abandon their medication altogether if it is

The study also involves HBF Health Limited, mental health group Meeting for Minds and the Perron Institute.

Charlie's ED upgrade

COVID is making the money go around and SCGH can look forward to its spin of the wheel with the announcement that the state government would be spending $19m to expand and upgrade its Emergency Department. Part of the upgrade will include a new eightbed Behavioural Assessment Urgent Care Centre (BAUCC) for patients adversely affected by alcohol and/or drugs to be assessed safely. Charlie’s ED sees about 6000 patients a month so the waiting room and triage areas will be redesigned to minimise overcrowding and noise. The hospital's main entrance will be relocated from G Block to E Block. These upgrades are additional to the $23.8 hospital maintenance blitz.

Freo gets a share

The WA government also announced $24.4m would go to Fremantle Hospital for an additional 20 mental health beds and supplement funding for the existing 20-bed expansion. The new unit will include a 10-bed older adult neurological behavioural unit with a shared model of care between psychiatry and geriatrics. It is expected to open in 2023 and the government expects its 64-bed capacity to transform Fremantle Hospital into a key mental health hub in the South Metropolitan region.

Joondalup inches closer

While the prep work continues for the major redevelopment of Joondalup Health campus to the tune of $256.7m ($158 from Canberra) the tender process is hotting up with four builders – Multiplex, Lendlease, Georgiou and Built – in the final stage. The tender is expected to be let in October and the build is scheduled to be completed by late 2025 (etch that date in stone). What the people of WA can expect is 90 extra regular and 30 mental health beds, a new operating theatre and cath lab and an expanded ED with a behavioural assessment urgent care clinic. Alcohol warnings

The Health Minister Roger Cook went to the Food Regulation Forum last month with a determined look in his eye. He flagged before the meeting he wanted national compliance of alcohol warnings for pregnant women on drink labels. He succeeded with the warnings becoming mandatory across all states and territories. The labels will read ‘PREGNANCY WARNING Alcohol can cause lifelong harm to your baby’.

Wins for WIRF

UWA researchers under the leadership of Senior Australian of the Year Professor John Newnham have published results which indicate that the rate of potentially fatal preterm births in Western Australian hospitals can be safely reduced by up to 20% when a coordinated series of interventions is applied to pregnant women. The paper, published in PLOS ONE, reveals a 7.6% reduction in preterm births across WA and a 20% reduction in WA’s major perinatal centre, King Edward Memorial Hospital, one year after introducing the WA Preterm Birth Prevention Initiative. John said the initiative was underpinned by seven main interventions including avoiding ending pregnancies before 39 weeks gestation, prescribing vaginal progesterone to women with a shortened cervix or a history of spontaneous preterm birth, and