The need for secure funding for Hospital 2 Home in WA

Hospital 2 Home (H2H), and similar programs, support people transitioning back home after mental health inpatient stays. H2H meets people where they are at, offering peer connection and support, linkage to needed services, support to engage in the community and in the activities people find most meaningful, and advocacy support for consumers to have their discharge and post-discharge needs met.

In WA, Hospital 2 Home has been provided by MIFWA, which has recently encountered issues securing funding to continue the program, meaning that it is at risk of closure.¹ The potential discontinuation of the program would happen in the midst of increasing need, with MIFWA reporting increased demand and referrals, and despite the program’s record of delivering high-quality support that is valued by consumers.² Instead, it is a transition of responsibility for funding from the Commonwealth to the State government level that is threatening the continuity of the service.

Unfortunately, funding fragmentation, short-term funding cycles, insecurity and inflexibility in funding routinely threatens the continuity and sustainability of essential programs such as H2H. At the level of systems, such funding practices entrench siloing, preventing development of linkages between parts of systems and services to ensure continuity of care, service integration and coordination.³ Last minute or shortened timelines for funding contract extensions or continuation means that services and programs often begin to wind down or stop operations close to contract end dates, only to then need to recommence if funding is extended, with common outcomes being loss of staff, consumers not being supported or experiencing breaks in their care and supports that negatively affect their wellbeing, and organisational instability. Given that people connect with H2H during periods in their lives in which they may be feeling more vulnerable as they leave hospital following a period of intense mental health distress or crisis, secure funding for this program is essential.

CoMHWA hears often that discharge can be a stressful, rushed or poorly planned process and consumers who do not have access to H2H describe having little to no support after discharge. Support during the time immediately following discharge from a mental health inpatient stay is crucial, considering that this is a time known to be associated with increased likelihood of unplanned readmission, experiences of suicidal ideation or suicidal self-harm, and death by suicide.⁴ Navigating the often fractured, complex systems of services and supports is challenging under the best of circumstances, let alone at a time when consumers’ energy is already taken up in doing all they can to support their own recovery following a hospital stay.

Evaluations of H2H, and similar programs across Australia and abroad, demonstrate their effectiveness.⁵ These programs contribute to reducing readmissions,⁶ increasing engagement with services,⁷; supporting recovery, and help to build consumers’ knowledge of services and supports, skills and strategies for supporting their recovery and feelings of hope.⁸ Consumers highlight the unique value of the connection with peers that is core to H2H, describing how peer workers can form personal connections, transformative relationships, and offer above and beyond support.⁹

Despite these strengths, not only is the program’s funding in doubt, but H2H programs are currently only available in six public hospitals in WA, all of which are within the Perth metropolitan area. CoMHWA believes that Hospital 2 Home should be available across all public and private inpatient hospitals in Western Australia, so that all WA consumers have supports that enable them to return to their homes and communities at the time when they need it most.

CoMHWA also feels that H2H should be among the foundational psychosocial supports provided outside of the NDIS that are currently being designed, and that are essential to bridging the gap in supports for the already approximately 50, 000 people with unmet need for mental health and psychosocial support in WA.¹⁰ Expanded, secure and sustained funding is needed to safeguard the ongoing operation of H2H, and ensure that more consumers have access to this essential support.

¹ MIFWA. (2026, 19 May). We can’t afford to lose what’s working in mental health support. MIFWA Hospital to Home program set to close due to lack of government funding. https://www.mifwa.org.au/blog/mifwa-statement-hospital-to-home-risk-of-closure/

² Ibid.

³ Australian Government Productivity Commission. (2025). Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Agreement Review Inquiry report. https://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries-and-research/mental-health-review/report/

⁴ Heapy, C., G. Haddock, J. Parkinson, and D. Pratt. (2026). Experiences of Suicidality Following Discharge from a Mental Health Inpatient Unit: A Systematic Review and Meta-Synthesis. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy 33(1), e70234. https://doi.org/10.1002/cpp.70234

⁵ MIFWA. (2025a). MIFWA Hospital to Home Services 2025 Impact Report: Empowering People, Improving Recovery Outcomes.

⁶ Corrigan, P. W., Talluri, S. S. & Shah, B. (2022). Formal peer-support services that address priorities of people with psychiatric disabilities: A systematic review. American Psychologist, 77(9), 1104–1116. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36595410/

Hancock, N., Scanlan, J. N, Banfield, M., Berry, B., Pike-Rowney, G., Salisbury, A. & Norris, S. (2021). Independent Evaluation of NSW Peer Supported Transfer of Care initiative (Peer-STOC): Final report. The University of Sydney & Australian National University, Australia. https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/mentalhealth/professionals/Documents/peer-stoc-evaluation-final-report-2021.pdf

⁷ Hancock, et al., 2021, p. 21.

⁸ Hancock, N., Berry, B., Banfield, M., Pike-Rowney, G., Scanlan, J. N., & Norris, S. (2022). Peer Worker-Supported Transition from Hospital to Home-Outcomes for Service Users. International journal of environmental research and public health, 19(5), 2743. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19052743

⁹ MIFWA, 2025a, pp. 7-8.

MIFWA. (2025b). MIFWA Annual Report 2024–2025. https://www.mifwa.org.au/miwp/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/MIFWA-Annual-Report-2024-2025.pdf, p. 35.

¹⁰ Health Policy Analysis. (2024). Analysis of unmet need for psychosocial supports outside of the National Disability Insurance Scheme. https://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/2024-08/analysis-of-unmet-needfor-psychosocial-supports-outside-of-the-national-disability insurance-scheme-final-report.pdf