Surge in mental health cases at EDs blamed on meth usage during Mad March

A surge in mental health cases at emergency departments is being linked to Mad March meth use.

Mad March partying appears to be fuelling a surge in mental health cases linked to the use of methamphetamines presenting at hospital emergency departments.

Mental health clinicians at the Royal Adelaide Hospital have noted an unusually high number of people who have used meth presenting to the ED over recent weeks.

Presentations at metropolitan EDs for mental health and drug and alcohol-related problems are running at 12.9 per cent higher than the 2019 average.

Among patients aged under 25, the presentation rate is 24.2 per cent higher than in 2019.

Officials said that, as in previous years, the increase in cases was associated with a rise in the number of people in the city due to the Festival and Fringe seasons. Drug and Alcohol Services SA has not received reports of a bad batch of meth or observed any recent changes in local drug trends.

Key executives and the mental health leaders in each of the local health networks have been holding regular teleconferences to work through ways to help the RAH’s ED cope at peak times.

Mental health clinicians at the Royal Adelaide Hospital have noted an unusually high number of people who have used meth presenting to the ED over recent weeks. Picture: Calum Robertson

SA Health officials said there had been a range of actions to divert demand from EDs.

They include the recent opening of the Urgent Mental Health Centre in the city, expansion of the Hospital in the Home program and expansion of the MH-Co response teams, where mental health experts ride with ambulance paramedics with the aim of finding appropriate treatment as an alternative to an ED.

The central and northern local health networks have also used temporary additional bed capacity at the Adelaide Clinic to ease pressure on their EDs.

Further work also is being done with an interstate expert who completed a post-occupancy review of the Tarnanthi service at Glenside Campus and the impact of extra bed capacity commissioned in 2019.

In recent weeks, there have been multiple cases of patients suffering mental health issues being stuck in the RAH ED for days, due to there being nowhere suitable to send them after initial treatment.

That adds to problems finding room for new arrivals to the hospital, which then contributes to ambulance ramping while waiting to transfer patients.