‘I’ll blow all you bastards up’: Mentally ill patient repeatedly vowed to blow up RDH

AN UNSUPERVISED mentally ill patient repeatedly threatened to blow up himself and other patients at Royal Darwin Hospital by lighting his bedding on fire while on high levels of oxygen

A severely mentally ill patient repeatedly threatened to blow up himself and other patients at Royal Darwin Hospital

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AN UNSUPERVISED and severely mentally ill patient repeatedly threatened to blow up himself and other patients at Royal Darwin Hospital by lighting his bedding on fire while on high levels of oxygen.

The patient was one of up to 16 psychiatric patients forced on to RDH’s medical and surgical wards at a time due to a lack of beds in the secure mental health wards.

A patient who was on the ward at the same time as the man described his stay as “unbearable”.

“He kept asking me to get him a lighter and some cigarettes and saying ‘I’m going to blow this f**king place up and I’m going to blow all you bastards up too’,” he said.

“He was a very sick man.”

The patient said the mentally ill man was not supervised by security guards and medical staff had little time to watch him.

The NT News this week revealed the depth of the mental health crisis gripping RDH.

With no beds available in the specialist mental health units, patients experiencing severe mental health episodes are being admitted to surgical and medical wards, putting staff and patient safety at risk.

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Health Minister Natasha Fyles said she would meet Australian Medical Association president Tony Bartone and NT branch boss Robert Parker to discuss the issue this week.

The organisation wants the Territory Government to repurpose the Palmerston Regional Hospital or RDH’s youth mental health inpatient facility as an adult acute mental health unit.

Ms Fyles on Wednesday offered no specifics as to how she intended to address the crisis.

“Mental health is a multi-faceted issue. We need to build resilience in our communities, particularly in children, but we also need to make sure we have these acute services for when people do need interventions in a clinical hospital setting,” she said.

“We’ll be continuing the work we’ve been undertaking and continue working with representatives, clinical representatives such as the AMA.”