IN BRIEF
- Advocates say the mental health system is too focused on waiting for a crisis to occur before starting treatment.
- The NSW Premier said there will be an urgent government review of security protocols at Cumberland Hospital.
This article contains references that may be disturbing to some viewers.
NSW’s mental health crisis has been thrust into the spotlight again, following the escape of two patients from the same hospital, who days later were reportedly involved in separate incidents that left three people dead.
The incidents have reignited criticism of the state’s mental health crisis, following the Bondi sting investigation, which found perpetrator Joel Cauchi had slipped through the cracks of the mental health system.
One of the men, a 31-year-old, was an involuntary patient at Australia’s largest psychiatric facility, Sydney’s Cumberland Hospital. It is alleged he was driving a stolen vehicle that crashed in Sydney’s south-west, killing two women aged 60 and 84.
The other patient, a 25-year-old man, escaped from the same facility during a transfer to another hospital. He is said to have stabbed three people in Merrylands, leading to the death of one.
The two men remain in court, while the Western Sydney Local Health district said it supports discussions on ways to improve the safety of patients, staff and the wider public. The district also said it is conducting a formal review of its security protocols.
NSW Premier Chris Minns said there will be an urgent government review of security protocols at Cumberland Hospital.
“We must protect the public in circumstances where someone is experiencing a psychiatric episode and poses a danger to themselves or members of the public.”
The mental health system has been too focused on waiting for a crisis before starting treatment, advocates say
NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association Cumberland delegate Nick Howson said the system is broken and nurses at the hospital are struggling with systemic failure.
“The reality is you can see the outcome of what happens when there aren’t enough people around to provide the care that we should be providing,” he said.
“We’re doing what we can with very few resources. You can’t blame an individual hospital or an individual health district because they’re being hamstrung by government funding.”
Calls for more funding
Last year, dozens of public hospital psychiatrists resigned in protest over a lack of funding
The president of the New South Wales Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists RANZCP says a recent temporary pay increase is insufficient to address the lack of community care, housing and hospital beds.
Dr. Ian Korbel says mental health funding has always been an issue.
“We’ve seen that since the deinstitutionalizations that took place in the late 1980s to early 1990s. The money saved by closing those old institutions just didn’t go to community care where it needed to be.”
“So it means patients are ending up in hospital more often than necessary. We have more than 50,000 people in NSW with serious mental illness who are not accessing care – this is neglect by the state of the most vulnerable patients,” Korbel said.
Chief executive of mental health consumer group BEING Giancarlo De Vera said more attention must also be paid to community support to avoid people being left in positions where they are held against their will for treatment.
“These levels of funding are simply insufficient. We need more mental health services in the community. We need more supportive housing for people with serious mental illness, both in the short and long term.”
“To some extent we also need more beds. We are looking at some of the lowest bed levels in the western world. We have less than 30 beds per 100,000 people in NSW, where the average is about 60,” De Vera said.
Insisting on a coordinated national approach
SANE Australia Chief Clinical Officer Dr Rahul Khanna said funding would come down to the state and federal governments.
“We’ve seen that failure across the country, and some of it comes down to funding responsibilities between state and federal governments, creating a really fragmented system that’s really difficult to understand and difficult to access.”
Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly listed Dr Pramudie Gunaratne as the current NSW President of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists. Dr. Ian Korbel is the current chairman.
Readers seeking mental health support can call Lifeline crisis support on 13 11 14, or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636.
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