Royal Darwin Hospital surgical ward repurposed last month to deal with influx of mental health patients

Royal Darwin Hospital was forced to repurpose a ward to deal with a massive influx of mental health patients.

ROYAL Darwin Hospital (RDH) was forced to repurpose a ward last month to deal with a massive influx of mental health patients in its emergency department.

The NT News has confirmed Ward 2B – usually used as a surgical ward – was used to accommodate mental health patients stuck in the emergency department because there were not enough beds to house them in the dedicated mental health facilities.

There were concerns the so-called “outliers” presented a safety risk for other patients and staff.

The NT Health Department did not directly respond to questions about the conversion of the ward for mental health patients. In a statement it said its priority was “always to provide the best patient care and safety at all times”.

“Work is also underway to increase capacity for the mental health services across Royal Darwin and Palmerston hospitals,” it said. “We are also progressing work with the National Disability Insurance Scheme and residential care services to support access to community care.

RDH was forced to repurpose a ward last month to deal with a massive influx of mental health patient. Picture: Che Chorley

“New programs are in place at both hospitals to increase inpatient capacity, facilitating greater multidisciplinary team collaboration to improve patient outcomes and safely decrease length of hospital stay.”

In June, the NT News revealed a spike in mental health patients and lack of appropriate facilities was creating a dangerous environment at RDH, with the safety of patients, staff and visitors being put at risk.

Whistleblowers said doctors were being forced to administer massive doses of sedatives to psychiatric patients as there were no mental health beds available for them.

Some patients were also being intubated, given a general anaesthetic and sent to the intensive care unit on a ventilator because they were too unstable to be kept in the emergency department. In May, a psychiatric patient stabbed a security guard in the RDH emergency department.

There are concerns that dedicated mental health facilities – the Joan Ridley Unit, Cowdy Ward and Youth Inpatient facility – are regularly full, forcing mental health patients to remain in the emergency department.

The NT government has released a tender for a new 18-bed mental health unit and dedicated stabilisation and referral area. Tender documents say the facilities are intended to provide a “stepped-care approach” to mental health care, “which means people receive support that matches their level of need”. “To enable this transition, new and upgraded facilities need to be developed at the Royal Darwin Hospital Campus to augment the existing facilities,” the documents say. The Health Department says the continued dedication and professionalism of its staff is “acknowledged and commended”.