‘He shouldn’t be dead’: Families sue Frankston Hospital over suicides

Two grieving families are suing Frankston Hospital for failing to provide appropriate psychiatric care to their loved ones, which allegedly led to two people taking their own lives.

The law firm acting for these families is also representing at least 10 other Victorians who are preparing to sue other public mental health facilities following the suicide of their relatives.

Rhiannon Abeling is grieving the loss of her husband, Michael, who died by suicide in 2022 after he was discharged from Frankston Hospital.Credit: Joe Armao

On January 11, 2022, Frankston father Michael Abeling arrived at Frankston Hospital’s emergency department and allegedly told staff he was going to take his life.

He was accompanied by his wife, Rhiannon, who handed staff a referral letter, which the then 45-year-old’s GP had written that day.

The GP’s letter, obtained by this masthead, said Abeling was “acutely suicidal” and “keen to seek help with alcohol withdrawal while admitted under the psychiatric department”. He had tried to take his life a few days earlier.

But hospital staff assessed the Frankston father as being at low risk of suicide, refused to admit him as a psychiatric inpatient and discharged him later that day, according to a statement of claim filed in the Supreme Court by Shine Lawyers.

A discharge summary from the hospital, obtained by this masthead, acknowledges that staff received the GP’s letter and were aware of Abeling’s suicide plans. It even detailed the method of his planned suicide.

Abeling died by suicide at home two days later.

In another case, a mother and former Frankston Hospital employee took her life three days after she was discharged from Frankston Hospital on March 3, 2021.

Lawyers claim that while the mother was discharged with a plan that involved daily check-ins at home, these check-ins were then changed to every second day. The statement of claim said the mother’s family was not told she had been prescribed antidepressants that increased the risk of agitation and suicidal thoughts.

These cases have prompted Shine Lawyers to launch an investigation into the standards of psychiatric care being provided by Frankston Hospital and other Victorian public hospitals.

Daniel Opare, the firm’s Victorian medical law practice leader, believes the psychiatric treatment provided by Frankston Hospital was negligent in both these cases.

“Frankston Hospital needs to take a hard look at how they classify people’s risk of self-harm,” he said.

“We’ve come a long way to remove the stigma associated with mental illness. It’s heartbreaking to see situations where people have mustered the courage to seek help and then are let down by a hospital.”

A mother took her own life three days after being discharged from Frankston Hospital.Credit: Paul Jeffers

There is a cupboard in Rhiannon Abeling’s bedroom that is a shrine to her late husband. It contains their marriage certificate, framed photographs of the beaming couple and hand-painted plates that the couple’s five children decorated for their father.

“He was my best friend, my soulmate,” she said. “He shouldn’t be dead.”

She said her husband was discharged from Frankston Hospital a few hours after arriving. She does not believe a proper psychiatric assessment was conducted.

Rhiannon said Michael’s death traumatised her family, especially her nine-year-old daughter, who discovered him dead. Everyone in the family is receiving counselling.

Rhiannon Abeling says her husband’s death by suicide also hurt their family financially.Credit: Joe Armao

“Just the other day, my four-year-old asked me: ‘When is Daddy coming home from heaven?’ I had to explain to him that Daddy’s not coming home. He was bawling his eyes out.”

Michael’s death has also hurt the family financially.

Rhiannon has been unable to return to her job at the local pizza shop or as a university research assistant.

The 43-year-old daughter of the former Frankston Hospital employee who died in 2021 said her mother’s suicide had destroyed her.

She said her “fierce, feisty and hilarious” mother should never have been discharged from Frankston Hospital when she was so unwell.

While the family had secured a bed at a private mental health facility for their mother, it was not available until four days following her discharge from Frankston Hospital. She died at home three days after leaving hospital.

“We deserved more communication and more monitoring,” said her daughter, who did not want to disclose her name due to the stigma of mental illness. “I can’t even express how horrible it has been.”

Shyaman Menon, chief medical officer of Frankston Hospital operator Peninsula Health, said the health and wellbeing of patients was of utmost importance.

“Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with the families affected in these cases,” the adjunct associate professor said. “Due to privacy and confidentiality, and as these matters are before the courts, we are unable to comment further.”

The former Mental Health Complaints Commission revealed that 12 per cent of the more than 1600 complaints it received in 2022-23 related to difficulties accessing mental health services. This was up from 7 per cent the previous year.

A spokeswoman for the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission said suicide was at a four-year high in Victoria. “We are deeply saddened to learn about these tragic incidents,” she said.

Professor Patrick McGorry, executive director of Orygen National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health, said too many people with mental health issues were winding up in emergency departments due to successive governments’ failures to invest in community models of care, which he said were sparse and overwhelmed.

Orygen executive director Patrick McGorry.

He said emergency departments were problematic places to assess and treat people with mental illness. “It is the wrong ambience and culture,” he said. “It is set up for medical emergencies and car accidents. People with mental illness go to the bottom of the queue, even if they are very unwell. It is incredibly risky. It is not the fault of the staff; it is a design problem.”

He called for a scaling-up of hospital-in-the-home services, which he said could successfully reduce emergency department presentations and provide earlier and more compassionate acute mental health care. A refocus and revival of the Royal Commission into Mental Health blueprint was also urgently needed, he said.

If you or someone you know is in need of support contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue. In an emergency, dial triple zero (000).

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