Doctors in country SA are rejecting mentally ill patients, inquiry hears

DOCTORS in country SA are refusing to see potentially suicidal mental health patients, an inquiry has heard.

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DOCTORS in country SA are refusing to see potentially suicidal mental health patients, an inquiry has heard.

Reasons include that they don’t have time, they might not understand the significance of mental health issues and how to get help, and that there is not enough mental health resourcing for doctors.

Country SA has the highest rate of overnight mental health admissions in the nation.

UnitingSA told a recent public hearing into mental health services in rural and remote Australia that some doctors don’t understand that the National Disability Insurance Scheme covers mental health issues.

“We’re finding that some of the doctors don’t want to know about it, don’t have time,” project officer Jan Marie Barr said.

“One particular consumer was told by the doctor that she didn’t have a disability — she wasn’t in a wheelchair and she could walk — so he wouldn’t even look at the paperwork.”

“Some of the doctors here in Whyalla are choosing not to see consumers that present with a mental illness, so that is an issue in itself,” she said.

Labor Senator Deborah O’Neill asked Ms Barr to confirm that doctors were actually saying “I will not see you if you have a mental illness” or “That’s not my job. I’m not doing that”. “We have come across that, yes,” Ms Mary said.

“That’s just outrageous,” Senator O’Neill responded.

“It’s an untenable position. It’s absolutely unethical, unprofessional, and it doesn’t meet the community standard in any shape or form.”

But the Royal Australian College of GPs says the mental health funding for GPs has been gutted and that they are doing the best they can.

“GPs are generally doing it out of the goodness of their hearts,” President-elect Harry Nespolon said. “Most of these patients can’t pay. (The GPs) are probably working really hard just dealing with usual medical requirements.”

At the Whyalla hearing, Whyalla Suicide Prevention Network committee members said doctors would send patients straight to hospital.

They then end up going home without any support. Spokeswoman Karen Mary Harrison said children are “just sent home and told to come back”.

“A number of parents have taken their children up to the hospital and they’ve been discharged, because there are not enough beds,” she said.

“If it’s on a weekend especially, you come back on Monday and then you can go through mental health on the third floor instead of going through casualty.”

Whyalla has recently opened a headspace office to provide young people with free mental health help — but a spokeswoman said their waiting list is about five months.

The inquiry will report in October.

Member for Grey Rowan Ramsey said the small population centres in rural Australia meant there would never be enough mental health care people to take care of everyone.

“We need to keep trying to lift the level, the frequency and the competency of those services,” he said.

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