SA chief pyschiatrist reveals 15 per cent surge in Inpatient Treatment Orders

A sharp rise in legal orders to have mental health patients treated against their will shows the system is buckling, advocates warn.

Restraining treatment orders for dangerous mental health patients have soared by 1665 cases across six years to almost 13,000 last financial year, as the health system buckles under demand.

Chief Psychiatrist Dr John Brayley’s annual report released last month shows Inpatient Treatment Orders, where mental health patients can be held in treatment centres and treated against their will due to safety concerns, are rocketing.

The 12,981 treatment orders in 2022-23 were made for 6256 individuals.

Dr Brayley’s report notes the legislation allows for “the lawful treatment of people against their will, if their health and safety is at risk of harm because of their mental illness.”

“There has been a steady increase in the use of treatment orders in recent years and a concern that the use of such orders could be minimised,” he notes.

The rise in orders comes amid spiralling costs for security guards at hospitals.

Dr Brayley was not available for interview on the Plympton stabbing but released a statement saying he acknowledged the serious and distressing incident leading to a loss of life of a person and serious injury to another.

“My thoughts are with all those affected by these events,” he said.

SA Health Chief Psychiatrist Dr John Brayley’s annual report, released last month, shows Inpatient Treatment Orders are up 680 per cent over the past 6 years. Picture: Dean Martin

Executive Director of the Mental Health Coalition of SA, Geoff Harris, said there is a lack of mental health services and the government is aware of the gap. Picture: Supplied

“While the matter is part of an ongoing police investigation, a review into the patient’s clinical care will also be undertaken by the Office of the Chief Psychiatrist.

“We will engage an independent interstate senior psychiatrist for this task.

“Key outcomes will be made public and the full report will be provided to the Coroner.

“While situations like this are rare, we know this will have a significant impact on many people in the broader community, including staff in our hospitals.”

A report a decade ago by Dr Brayley when he was Public Advocate warned there were people at “high risk” of harming themselves or others in the community due to unmet needs.

Mental Health Coalition of South Australia executive director Geoff Harris told The Advertiser there are “not enough services that prevent people from needing crisis and emergency services and inpatient beds.”

“It is not just about beds,” he said.

“The biggest gap in our public mental health system is in services that help keep people to stay well and use hospital services less.

“We have an unmet demand that the government knows about.

“We put pressure on the government to release their own report back in July which told us there are 19,000 South Australians living with complex mental illnesses who are not getting the services they need.

“As the government’s report shows, some of these services are funded in SA and independent evaluations show that they are highly effective in helping people to stay well and reducing demand for crisis, emergency and acute services.”

Mr Harris said the Unmet Needs Report shows the 19,000 South Australians with severe mental illnesses – and missing out on the mental health support they need – has doubled since the first estimates in 2020.

Health Minister Chris Picton said more than a thousand extra people a year will receive psychosocial community mental health support as a result of extra government funding and redesigned service programs.

Health Minister Chris Picton said the government is boosting its funding to mental health NGO services. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Morgan Sette

“As a first major step to bridging the gap of mental health unmet psychosocial community supports for South Australians, the government is boosting funding to NGO services through revised contracts as well as injecting an additional $6m into mental health funding through the Mid-Year Budget Review,” he said.

“This is in addition to the Malinauskas Government’s investment of hundreds of millions of dollars in 130 extra mental health beds across seven major public hospitals.”

Mental Health Commissioner Taimi Allan said “We know there is still a long way to go to meet the needs of people where and when they need help, but this funding is just the first step, and signals a commitment to addressing those needs through sustainably resourcing some of the NGO services we know are working well.”