Table 1 Socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of the patient sample at the three audit periods, pre- (n = 1054), during (n = 2043) and post-intervention (n = 1078)

Gender

0.8397

 Male

573 (54%)

1110 (54%)

597 (55%)

2280(55%)

First admission to facility?

0.1123

 Yes

410 (39%)

841 (41%)

402 (38%)

1653(40%)

Planned discharge?

0.3193

 Yes

1019 (99%)

2004 (99%)

1064 (99%)

4087(99%)

Discharging unit

<.0001

 Emergency and intensive care

93 (9%)

364 (18%)

241 (23%)

698(17%)

 General acute unit 1

235 (23%)

334 (16%)

152 (14%)

721(17%)

 General acute unit 2

226 (22%)

465 (23%)

164 (15%)

855(20%)

 Comorbid mental health and substance use unit

209 (20%)

341 (17%)

207 (19%)

757(18%)

 Rural acute unit

223 (21%)

443 (22%)

243 (23%)

909(22%)

 Older persons unit

52 (5%)

89 (4%)

66 (6%)

207(5%)

Identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander?

0.0325

 Yes

83 (7.9%)

199 (9.8%)

121 (11%)

403(10%)

 No or unknown

968 (92%)

1840 (90%)

955 (89%)

3763(90%)

English speaking

0.0232

 Yes

1019 (97%)

1994 (98%)

1062 (99%)

4075(98%)

 No or unknown

32 (3.0%)

46 (2.3%)

14 (1.3%)

Primary diagnosis on admission

<0.0001

 Schizophrenia and related psychosis

262 (25%)

524 (26%)

251 (23%)

1037(25%)

 Unipolar affective disorder

204 (19%)

320 (16%)

170 (16%)

694(17%)

 Bipolar disorder

91 (8.7%)

204 (10%)

108 (10%)

403(10%)

 Adjustment disorder

181 (17%)

355 (17%)

201 (19%)

737(18%)

 Borderline personality disorders

104 (10%)

190 (9%)

74 (7%)

368(9%)

 Other mental disorder

40 (4%)

60 (3%)

34 (3%)

134(3%)

 Drug use disorders

118 (11%)

277 (14%)

198 (18%)

593(14%)

 Dementias

13 (1.2%)

12 (0.6%)

5 (0.5%)

30(1%)

 Other medical condition

34 (3%)

93 (5%)

36 (3%)

163(4%)

Age in years

0.1345

 mean (SD)

39.0 (15.5)

38.9 (15.0)

40.0 (15.5)

39.2(15.3)

Length of stay

0.5144

 mean (SD)

16.1 (35.9)

17.6 (34.4)

16.7 (28.4)

17.0 (33.4)