NT doctors cry out for funding help amid COVID mental health crisis
CORONAVIRUS has fuelled a mental health crisis in the Top End, as overloaded staff at Royal Darwin Hospital see presentations soar
Politics
Don't miss out on the headlines from Politics. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- NT’s first private mental health facility almost complete
- Territory needs more mental health investment, says top doctor
CORONAVIRUS has fuelled a mental health crisis in the Top End, as presentations at Royal Darwin Hospital (RDH) soar by about 30 per cent.
It comes as the Territory branch of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) calls on the NT government to rescue mental health funding from 30 years of neglect.
Top End Mental Health Service consultant psychiatrist David Chapman said their understaffed team had become incredibly overwhelmed with work this year.
MORE TOP NEWS
Man finally arrested after six-hour Darwin CBD high-rise siege
Repatriated expat tests positive for coronavirus at Howard Springs
Dr Chapman said they had seen a 30 per cent increase in patients presenting with mental health issues at RDH since COVID began.
“We’ve noticed the distinct increasing presentations for mental health and also a very large increase in those cases related to self harm, but also in the context of social stress, relationships and lack of employment, and so on,” he said.
“Our mental health bed numbers are half the national average and that’s just reflected in the incredible dangerous high risk overload.
“Looking at it from the inside, we sometimes feel like crumbling under the demand.”
It comes after last month it was revealed a critical shortage of mental health beds at RDH had pushed patients into medical and surgical wards with doctors saying the overflow was putting “lives at risk”.
Dr Chapman, who is also the NT branch chairman of the RANZCP, said they were calling on the NT government to increase mental health funding by $100m per year immediately and provide a “catch up” fund of $300m to bring facilities and staffing up to standards comparable to the rest of Australia.
OFFER EXTENDED: Amazing NT News subscription offer: Read everything for $1
“In addition to the new investment in mental health, what we really need is an actionable blueprint for the rollout of these services — Top End Mental Health Services are in crisis and these things need to happen now,” he said.
It comes after the NT government in June secured $50m in federal funding to build a new mental health facility in Darwin.
If you have any concerns about yourself or a loved one, please contact the Northern Territory Mental Health Line on 1800 682 288 for advice or call Lifeline on 13 11 14.
CLP addresses allegations of police being directed to ignore arrests
The government has shut down claims police officers are being ordered to overlook non-urgent crimes, with Deputy Chief Minister Gerard Maley saying authorities have been instructed to “arrest as many” offenders necessary.
Landmark NT industrial manslaughter trial date looms
International witnesses will be called ahead of the Territory’s first ever industrial manslaughter trial, investigating the death of a beloved grandfather in one of Darwin’s wealthiest suburbs.