Mental health patients forced into surgical wards at RDH

A CRITICAL shortage of mental health beds at Royal Darwin Hospital has pushed mental health patients onto medical and surgical wards and doctors say the overflow is putting “lives at risk”

Royal Darwin Hospital has overflowing mental health wards.

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A CRITICAL shortage of mental health beds at Royal Darwin Hospital has pushed mental health patients into medical and surgical wards and doctors say the overflow is putting “lives at risk”.

“This places staff at risk, impacts their care in that appropriately trained staff are not monitoring patients; increases risks associated with suicide as patients are not contained,” one health worker told the Sunday Territorian.

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Health Minister Natasha Fyles said the situation wasn’t good enough.

“It’s not acceptable for any patient to be placed in a ward that was not designed for their specific needs,” she said.

“However, Top End Health are working hard to address the issue and I’m confident that all patients are being provided with the best possible care.”

A Top End Health spokesman said the most high needs patients were given mental health inpatient beds as they were freed up.

“The inpatient mental health teams continue to identify patients ready for discharge at the earliest opportunity and do so in a safe and appropriate manner,” he said.

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Extra staff had been put on to ensure patient safety to “minimise the additional pressures this creates on the ward staff”.

Figures from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare show the NT lags far behind other jurisdictions in the number of specialised mental health hospital beds.

The Territory had just 17.5 beds per 100,000 residents in 2016-17, compared to the national rate of 29.4 beds per 100,000. Territorians are also presenting to emergency departments with mental health-related episodes at a rate of 280 per 100,000 population, substantially higher than the national rate of 115.

Darwin was promised $14 million for a new adult mental health inpatient centre from the Coalition in the lead up to the May federal election. But it’s not known when construction will begin.

A Health Department spokesman could only say the centre would be one of eight which will open before 2025.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt was contacted for comment.