Doctors plea for help improving care of mental health patients after alleged Logan Hospital stabbing

Emergency doctors are pleading for help to improve the care of mental health patients after the devastated mum of a man who allegedly stabbed two southeast Queensland ED staff told of her heartache over the situation.

EMERGENCY doctors are pleading for political help in improving the care of mental health patients after the mum of a man who allegedly stabbed two Logan Hospital staff told them: “He came in seeking help and now he is being treated as a criminal”.

The Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM) has written to Queensland Health Minister Steven Miles calling for more public mental health beds and an end to long waits in hospital EDs to ease the problem.

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On Saturday, a 23-year-old man presented to an “overcrowded” Logan Hospital in the early hours of Saturday morning seeking mental health care.

“After hours waiting in the noisy and chaotic environment, the patient’s mental health crisis intensified, staff were assaulted,” college president Simon Judkins said in the letter.

“Police were called and the young man is now facing assault charges. As his devastated mother has told us: ‘He came in seeking help and now he is being treated as a criminal’.”

Logan Hospital was the scene of an alleged double stabbing on Saturday morning.

Mr Judkins said he was concerned that if the man was found guilty and punished, it would “not result in the significant system change that is required to improve the way people with mental health presentations are managed in the hospital system.”

“Our members report feeling heartbroken and burnt out in their inability to adequately assist people who come to the ED seeking help and are deeply worried for their patient’s safety as well as their own.”

Dr Judkins said the problem was not one that could be addressed by additional security guards, body-worn cameras and anti-violence posters alone.

“More concerted, systemic action must be taken must be taken to protect the safety and well being of ED staff and patients.”

Dr Judkins said mental health presentations to hospitals peaked after hours when the ED was the only option available for professional care.

Queensland Health Minister Steven Miles. Picture: AAP Image/Dan Peled

But he said their experience of the ED was frequently “harmful not helpful”, characterized by long waits “with seemingly no end in sight in a stressful environment”.

“Too few mental health beds and the lack of appropriate infrastructure to calm desperate and distressed patients exacerbate the harm,” he said.

“These long waits often result in people being sedated and physically restrained for long periods of time. The situation is not good enough.”

Dr Judkins’ letter comes amid this week’s hospital crisis in the state’s southeast when every public facility, except for the Queensland Children’s Hospital, was at capacity.

“It we could sort out the mental health issue, it would have enormous positive flow-on effects for every other patient that attends those hospitals,” he told The Courier-Mail.

Emergency doctors have called for all 24-hour waits in EDs to be reported to Mr Miles.

They’ve also called for Queensland Health to enforce maximum 12-hour stays in EDs with “mandatory notification and review” of all cases embedded in the key performance indicators of public hospital CEOs.

Dr Judkins said incidents, such as what allegedly occurred at the Logan Hospital at the weekend, were common throughout EDs in Australia.

He’s also written to other state and territory health ministers seeking similar changes across the country.

Comment has been sought from Mr Miles.