Anne Simmons
Almost half of patients presenting at Latrobe Regional Hospital’s emergency department who were sent to the mental health unit waited more than four hours for a bed between April 2017 and March 2018, a leaked report has revealed.
The report disclosed Latrobe Regional Hospital’s low performance compared to other Victorian public mental health services across a number of indicators.
Traralgon’s mental health facility had the highest number of inpatient suicides across the state with three deaths between July 2016 and June 2017.
In the Victorian Agency for Health Information report, the chief psychiatrist said inpatient suicides did not always reflect deficiencies in care and “clinicians cannot predict correctly which consumers are at high or low risk of suicide”.
The report listed aspects of care hospitals should investigate following inpatient suicide, including wait times, their experience in the emergency department and withdrawal from alcohol and drugs.
“Perhaps most importantly, the Chief Psychiatrist’s recent audit of inpatient deaths identified that suicides may be prevented if clinicians engaged actively with consumers to identify and meet their individual needs,” the report said.
Flynn Unit is the only acute mental health inpatient facility in Gippsland and the internal report was intended for hospital quality improvement purposes.
The chief psychiatrist’s message said long waiting times were “distressing” to consumers and could be reduced by elements such as quick access to junior and senior medical staff.
Latrobe Regional Hospital chief executive Peter Craighead said there had been much commentary about the need for more beds, staff and funding but the hospital’s focus was on “utilising the infrastructure and resources we have to provide quality care to the people of Gippsland”.
“We want to reassure the community we are doing our best in a very complex and challenging environment,” Mr Craighead said.
He said it was important to remember the hospital had a dedicated and professional team of mental health staff who cared for “some of the most vulnerable people in the region – people who are acutely unwell and should not be vilified for their illness”.
“Mental health staff recruitment is a challenge, not just for this service but right across Australia. The challenges are even greater in regional and rural settings,” he said.
The Health and Community Services Union is calling for higher staffing to cope with an increase in demand for mental health services across the state.
“I know that the staff and management are trying to do their best but the numbers are just overwhelming,” HACSU assistant state secretary Paul Healey said.
Only last week Mental Health Minister Martin Foley visited the Flynn Unit announcing an upgrade to the cramped nurses’ station which is 20 years old and has blind spots between staff and patients.
Mr Foley said the $500,000 upgrade was on top of the $9.7 million the government had delivered to the hospital for new intensive care area beds and better security, including duress alarms and CCTV.
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