Palaszczuk Government told Queensland needs dedicated unit for high-risk mental health patients

The Palaszczuk Government has been told dedicated mental health facilities are desperately needed to treat violent prisoners and mothers left to “struggle in silence”.

Queensland needs a dedicated inpatient mental health unit to stop violent prisoners from being treated alongside the general population in the state’s hospitals, the Palaszczuk Government has been told.

The government has also been told it must build specialist facilities to treat mothers currently “struggling in silence” with perinatal problems and at risk of harming their children.

The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists are demanding another 500 mental health workers, double the 3400 non-acute beds in the public system and an extra $700 million a year in funding to stop the stressed system from breaking, particularly after the toll taken by Covid.

Mental health professions say prisoners shouldn’t be treated in hospitals alongside the general population.

Their pre-Budget submission comes amid revelations current staffing for adult facilities is at 55 per cent of nationally-recommended levels.

Prof Emmerson said health funding had increased by 50 per cent in the past decade but mental health care funds had only risen by five to 10 per cent in that time.

Among their key requests are for 15 more community inpatient facilities for patients who should neither be at home or at hospital, and a 25-bed inpatient unit in southeast Queensland for complex and high-risk patients.

“One of the peculiarities is that serving prisoners are admitted to acute inpatient beds and I can tell you if you’ve got a mental illness and you’re in hospital, you don’t really want someone in the bed next to you who is a serving prisoner,” Prof Emmerson said.

“The consumers hate it and there really needs to be a built facility to take prisoners away from general adult wards.”

Treasurer Cameron Dick is being lobbied for an extra $650m to $700m for mental health care per year. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

RANZCP also wants universal screening of mental ill-health of new parents during baby check-ups to help those “suffering in silence”.

Prof Emmerson said the state had just three hospital rooms that could treat a mother with postpartum psychosis or other serious mental health issues and allow her to keep her baby with her. Another 40 were needed.

Undiagnosed and untreated mental health issues led to more severe future depression for mothers and poor mental health and developmental outcomes for the child, he said.

“There are those very sad (extreme) cases when the mother sometimes kills the child,” he said.

“We are calling on the Queensland Government to take mental health seriously because clearly they’re not,” Prof Emmerson said.

“The government keeps telling us they’re broke but they’ve got money for stadiums and for the Olympics.

“We’d like to see them spend money on the mental health of Queenslanders rather than putting it into sports events and stadiums.”

RANZCP has called for a review of mental health services by Queensland’s Mental Health Commission.