More than one in three SA mental health beds occupied by NDIS and forensic patients

A post-COVID surge has bottlenecked the state’s mental health beds, with patients from the criminal and disability systems adding to demand.

Almost 40 per cent of the state’s 494 mental health beds were occupied in March by forensic patients and NDIS participants, some ready for discharge, latest data can reveal.

Currently there are up to four forensic patients a day, on average, occupying general acute mental health beds because the state’s 70 forensic psychiatric beds are full.

A forensic inpatient is a defendant unfit for trial, or found not guilty of a crime due to mental impairment, and detained in a mental health facility or hospital; or can be a prisoner in remand or custody transferred for mental health treatment.

The latest SA Health bed occupancy data, obtained by the Advertiser, is contributing to a continuing mental health bottleneck in Emergency Departments (EDs) labelled as “dangerous”, “a disgrace” and “unacceptable” by an unprecedented coalition of mental health peak bodies and unions.

SA Health and Wellbeing Minister Stephen Wade speaks to press at a new vaccination clinic. Picture: Morgan Sette

Health Minister Stephen Wade said he was “disappointed” in the current rate of NDIS people moving out of hospital into supported accommodation, compared with the start of the pandemic.

“This issue has been raised at the recent national meeting of health ministers and we are keen to work with the Commonwealth to resolve this,” he said, adding the government was considering short-, medium- and long-term recommendations for action from last month’s mental health workshop.

Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) SA Branch chairman Dr Paul Furst has repeated calls for an extra 136, or more, mental health beds – including 20 forensic beds, as a priority in next month’s State Budget.

Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists SA branch chairman Dr Paul Furst

“The 136 beds … would bring SA up to the national average of 41 beds per 100,000 people, compared to our current number of 33 per 100,000,” he said.

“If we had the same number of beds as the rest of Australia, in combination with previous investment in community services and the staff to fill vacancies, then we would not have mental health patients waiting for days in EDs for a bed.”

In the past two weeks, several South Australians waited in metro EDs in excess of 90 hours for a mental health bed. They were among up to 100 people every day, on average, waiting in EDs for a bed since May 1, according to data collected by the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Foundation (ANMF) SA Branch

“It is a disgrace … it is simply unacceptable,” said ANMF SA Branch CEO Elizabeth Dabars.

ANMF SA Branch CEO Elizabeth Dabars.

She is calling for 40 extra mental health nurses and 100 vacancies to be filled.

Australian College of Emergency Medicine SA Faculty chairman Dr Mark Morphett said too many people needing mental health support were continuing to face “dangerous and unacceptably long waits” for care.

The Advertiser and Sunday Mail’s Let’s Talk mental health campaign has been calling for more mental health beds since October last year.

SA Health says 112 of the state’s specialist mental health inpatient beds were occupied by patients applying for National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) support, or who were NDIS clients at the end of March.

A SA Health spokeswoman said not all NDIS patients were clinically ready for discharge and that this number fluctuated.

Wellbeing SA says almost 600 NDIS ready-patients have been discharged under a targeted program since April 2019. These patients had collectively waited 53,454 days for discharge.

Reasons for NDIS-ready patients delayed for discharge can include delays in NDIS assessment, and lack of disability service providers, services, and appropriate housing.

Originally published as More than one in three SA mental health beds occupied by NDIS and forensic patients