60yo mother left languishing, waiting for a mental health bed at Gold Coast University Hospital

A 60-year-old mother was left, floating from ward to ward, medicated, waiting for a bed at the Gold Coast University Hospital. Now her daughter has spoken out.

A WOMAN in her 60s with a bipolar disorder and suffering manic episodes waited 10 days for a Gold Coast hospital mental health bed, allegedly “floating" around without specialist care.

Her daughter believes it was only after the Bulletin made inquiries on her behalf that her mother, who had a nurse with her 24-7, was transferred into the appropriate ward at Gold Coast University Hospital (GCUH).

Gold Coast Health refutes this claim and said the paper’s inquiry “did not alter this patient’s treatment”.

“When doctors themselves are telling you the bed demand situation is horrendous and a horrible symptom of the overburdened public health system, you know there’s a problem,” the daughter said.

The daughter – stranded in NSW and unable to help – added: “Staff seemingly work tirelessly to help patients who get caught in limbo in this overrun system but it’s simply not good enough sick people aren’t given the proper standard of care they deserve.

“A mental health patient should not be forced to float around in other units or wards without daily specialised mental health treatment and continuity of care.”

No waiting lines at Gold Coast University Hospital. Picture Glenn Hampson

After being admitted to the hospital after presenting to the Emergency Department on September 26, the woman was “medically cleared” by health staff and established as a mental health patient.

According to her daughter, the 60-year-old was put on medication and “just left floating in wards with psychiatrists occasionally coming to see her” for 10 days.

“I felt so hopeless, not being able to help. She was seen by a psychiatrist on October 1 but then wasn’t seen again until October 6 and that’s after I called staff at the hospital and despite them saying she’s still very unwell and quite manic,” the daughter said.

“If bed demand is that high, more time, money and attention needs to be given to public mental health services.”

A Gold Coast Health spokesperson said the service “strives to take a person-centred approach to mental health care” and staff work tirelessly to deliver compassionate care to a growing population while managing the additional impacts of Covid-19”.

Admissions for mental health treatment fell into two categories, the spokesperson said.

The first was “consumers” who are assessed as needing a mental health bed, the majority of whom are admitted within a few hours.

“The second category is consumers who may have originally been admitted to the hospital for other medical reasons and who require mental health treatment,” she said.

“We provide a mental health service for these patients through our consultation psychiatric liaison service which is a team of experienced mental health clinicians.

“While these consumers are on the ward, the level of psychiatric input will depend on the needs of each consumer. Once the decision has been made to medically discharge these consumers, they are admitted to a mental health bed once it becomes available.

“If a bed is not immediately available, our team mental health clinicians support consumers until they can be admitted.”

The spokeswoman said the number of mental health beds occupied on any given day changed with new admissions and discharges.

There are 72 adult and older people acute mental health beds at GCUH.

There are 66 mental health beds at Robina Hospital which includes a mix of acute, short stay and rehabilitation beds, including services for people under 25.

A Crisis Stabilisation Unit was launched in August at Robina Hospital to help alleviate the need for people in a mental health crisis to be treated initially in the Emergency Department. The unit aims to provide a more “homely and conducive environment to mental health consumers in crisis”.

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