24-hour bed wait in emergency departments for 1446 mentally ill SA patients

New figures show a mental health bottleneck of 1446 SA patients who are waiting more than 24 hours in emergency departments for a suitable bed.

Almost 1500 South Australians with a mental health condition were stuck for over 24 hours in an emergency department (ED) in the past year to February, it has been revealed in state parliament.

Peak health bodies, unions and the opposition yesterday described the new figures as an “utter tragedy”, “ absolutely appalling” and “discrimination” against those suffering from chronic mental health illness.

Premier Steven Marshall, in a response to Opposition health spokesman Chris Picton, tabled data yesterday that showed 1446 mental health patients waited more than 24 hours in EDs for access to a bed from the start of the pandemic last March to February this year.

July last year peaked with 197 mental health patients, then dipped in November before starting to rise again in January this year (see table). March data was not provided.

The new figures came 24 hours after all of the state’s major public hospitals reached catastrophic levels of overcrowding on Monday, with the Flinders Medical Centre issuing an “internal disaster” code.

Ambulances ramping out the front of the Flinders Medical Centre Emergency Department in September, 2020

Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists SA Branch committee chairman Dr Paul Furst (pictured below) said Adelaide’s three main hospitals were among the nation’s worst performing in National Emergency Access Targets.

“To put this into perspective for people, the numbers show that SA had more than 1,400 patients who waited for more than 24 hours for an inpatient bed over the last year – in contrast, the whole of the Victorian health system – not just mental health – had around 1,000,” he said.

“That is a state almost four times our size, which has just announced a billion-dollar investment in their mental health system due to it being deemed a ‘catastrophic failure’. If Victoria’s system is a catastrophic failure, what does that make ours?”

Mental health workshop in Adelaide April 2021 L-R (front) AMA SA Vice President Dr Michelle Atchison, Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation SA Branch CEO Elizabeth Dabars and SA Lived Experience Leadership & Advocacy Network (LELAN), Executive Director, Ellie Hodges L-R (rear) Dr Paul Furst, SA Branch chairman of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, SA Salaried Medical Officers Association President, Dr David Pope and Australasian Council of Emergency Medicine SA faculty chair Dr Mark Morphett

One mental health patient yesterday had been waiting for 102 hours for a bed and others have been waiting in excess of 90 hours, said the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF).

“These figures exemplify how broken the system is,” said ANMF SA branch CEO Elizabteh Dabars (pictured above).

“The Health Department’s own targets are that there mental health patients should not be in the emergency for more than eight hours. Clearly that is being consistently and chronically breached,” she said.

SA Health Minister Wade said the figures had shown an improvement in the last six months and that “our mental health teams were doing an excellent job in a challenging environment.”

He said there had been that a 33 per cent decrease in patients waiting more than 24 hours over the last six months, compared with the six months prior.

Health Minister Stephen Wade outside at the Women's and Children's Hospital in North Adelaide on Monday, May 3, 2021. Picture: Mike Burton

SA Health whistleblower John Mendoza says this is because of diversion measures put in place in November and December last year by Central Adelaide Local Health Network staff without additional resources and that numbers have since climbed in February and March.

Adjunct Professor Mendoza called the mental health system in Adelaide “the worst in the country and among – if not the worst – in leading OECD countries and regions”. “Utter tragedy,” he said.

Mr Picton said the new data was “absolutely appalling evidence of a system in complete crisis” and that delays for mental health patients were not slowing down. “These obscene delays cannot be left to continue,” he said.

Dr John Mendoza, former Central Adelaide Local Health Network Executive Director of Mental Health and Prison Health at the Royal Adelaide Hospital last year. Picture: Tom Huntley

The Australian Medical Association SA branch Vice President Dr Michelle Atchison said allowing mental health patients to wait that long in EDs was “discrimination against people with a serious mental health illness”.

“Mental health patients are like the canary in the coalmine, these statistics show up the enormous strain on the whole public health system,” said Dr Athcison.

It is understood Mr Wade is yet to respond to calls last week by Professor Mendoza and five health unions and peak bodies for an urgent meeting regarding their plan of attack to reduce surging demand asap, including more beds and staff.

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