Suicidal man cuts off finger in desperate bid to get mental health assistance
6 years, 5 months ago

Suicidal man cuts off finger in desperate bid to get mental health assistance

ABC  

It was a sunny winter's day in late July, and Seth's mental state was rapidly declining. Self-harm after two previous visits to ED Seth had reason to think he wouldn't get the care he needed by fronting up to the Royal as a mental health patient. "I was still groggy from sedatives, and couldn't really express myself," Seth said. "In the last few years I have known several people who have tried to access support … but it's just not enough," he said. "We are focused on reducing suicide and improving our responses to suicide prevention, including key initiatives such as the Early Intervention Suicide Prevention Referral Service, the recently released Tasmanian Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Communications Charter, and ongoing additional resources for grassroots community organisations.

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History of this topic

Emergency department workers in NSW brace for fallout, increased demand in wake of psychiatrist resignations
2 months ago

Emergency department workers in NSW brace for fallout, increased demand in wake of psychiatrist resignations

ABC  

As public hospitals across NSW begin to scale back their mental health services amid a wave of psychiatrist resignations, emergency room staff are bracing for the fallout. Skye Romer, a mental health nurse at Prince of Wales Hospital, as well as its NSWNMA branch secretary, said one consequence would be bottlenecks in the flow of patients across the state's public …

Psychiatrists and families call for funding overhaul of Queensland's broken mental health system
6 months ago

Psychiatrists and families call for funding overhaul of Queensland's broken mental health system

ABC  

Warning: This article contains references to mental health and suicide. Contact Emma Pollard at pollard.emma@abc.net.au No effort made to ensure safe accommodation Angelica's previous suicide attempt happened inside the Caboolture Hospital grounds after she discharged herself from that facility's mental health ward in February. "As with any unexpected death, a thorough review into the care provided to this patient and …

Psychiatrists call to upgrade Queensland's mental health units as ABC confirms 19 inpatient suicides in six years
6 months, 4 weeks ago

Psychiatrists call to upgrade Queensland's mental health units as ABC confirms 19 inpatient suicides in six years

ABC  

The college of psychiatrists in Queensland says the state government needs to spend "hundreds of millions" of dollars to upgrade decades-old mental health wards, with a concerning number of patients dying by suicide inside public hospitals over the past six years. Professor Emmerson said the state government's new payroll tax to help fund mental health services is not enough. Urgent …

Three patients die by suicide inside a secure Brisbane public mental health unit
10 months, 2 weeks ago

Three patients die by suicide inside a secure Brisbane public mental health unit

ABC  

WARNING: This article contains references to mental health and suicide. A new "crisis stabilisation facility" will also open at The Prince Charles Hospital in September, increasing short-stay capacity for people in mental health crises. Adjunct Professor Hancock said the "tragic events" at the hospital, in Brisbane's north, had taken place amidst an increasing number of patients attending Metro North Health …

Spotlight on 'gaps' in Australia's mental health system in wake of Bondi Junction attack
11 months, 1 week ago

Spotlight on 'gaps' in Australia's mental health system in wake of Bondi Junction attack

ABC  

Claire Jones knows well the pain and trauma shared this week by the distraught parents of Bondi shopping centre killer Joel Cauchi. In the wake of the Bondi Junction stabbings, the Prime Minister says the government "could always do more" to address Australia's mental health crisis. "Our current mental health system is filled with gaps and people have and continue …

WA health minister calls for private and federal government aid for mental health clinics
1 year, 1 month ago

WA health minister calls for private and federal government aid for mental health clinics

ABC  

In short: A 75-bed mental health clinic in Perth's southern suburbs has announced it will close after less than a year in operation. Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson wants private health insurers and the federal government to contribute more to mental health. Ms Sanderson hopes the facility can be re-purposed WA's health minister says private health insurers and the federal government …

Mental health patients waiting days in emergency due to chronic bed shortages at Queensland's largest hospital
1 year, 5 months ago

Mental health patients waiting days in emergency due to chronic bed shortages at Queensland's largest hospital

ABC  

Patients with severe mental illness are having to sleep on the floor or couches inside Queensland's largest hospital due to chronic bed shortages, with some left waiting days in the emergency department. Key points: Years of frustration over the dire state of the RBWH's mental health service has prompted clinical nurse Nat Karmichael to come forward as a whistleblower The …

Inequity in mental health care is widening, with treatment 'out of reach' for many Australians
2 years ago

Inequity in mental health care is widening, with treatment 'out of reach' for many Australians

ABC  

For Chantelle Gardiner, her rescue dog Ollie is more than just a pooch — he's a lifeline. Key points: Lower-income Australians feel they are being priced out of mental health care Out-of-pocket costs have been rising and there are warnings the gap between who can and cannot afford care is widening Researchers say ensuring equal access goes far beyond extra …

Head to Health clinics meeting unmet demand for national affordable mental healthcare
2 years, 6 months ago

Head to Health clinics meeting unmet demand for national affordable mental healthcare

ABC  

Ruth Lawrence says that somewhere between a GP and an emergency room there is a "missing middle" when it comes to mental health services in Perth. Key points: Head to Health clinics provide free, walk-in mental health support for people whose needs fit between a GP and an emergency room There are eight centres across Australia with more set to …

‘I’ve waited days and hours for a bed’ : Mental health services facing ‘desperate’ situation
3 years, 3 months ago

‘I’ve waited days and hours for a bed’ : Mental health services facing ‘desperate’ situation

The Independent  

Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. I think one of the worst parts about the whole experience of going into hospital …

Daniel Andrews announces $870 million mental health system overhaul
4 years, 4 months ago

Daniel Andrews announces $870 million mental health system overhaul

ABC  

The Victorian Government will spend nearly $870 million to fix a "broken" mental health system which, it admits, is under even greater pressure due to the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. Key points: $492 million will be spent on 120 new mental health beds in Geelong, Epping, Sunshine and Melbourne The spending is based on interim recommendations from the Mental …

Why mental health treatment can be too expensive for those who need it most
5 years ago

Why mental health treatment can be too expensive for those who need it most

ABC  

When Sarah Bryan quit her job after her mental health spiralled, she withdrew $20,000 from her superannuation account to pay for her mental healthcare costs and living expenses. In November, the Royal Commission into Victoria's Mental Health System interim report found a disproportionate number of people with mental health issues have a low income. ': Alarm sounded on youth mental …

Mental health patients still being sent hundreds of miles from home for hospital beds
5 years, 4 months ago

Mental health patients still being sent hundreds of miles from home for hospital beds

The Independent  

Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Hundreds of mental health patients are still being sent long distances …

Thousands of mental health patient transfers show need for more clinicians in rural Australia, researchers say
5 years, 6 months ago

Thousands of mental health patient transfers show need for more clinicians in rural Australia, researchers say

ABC  

Imagine being in the throes of an acute mental health episode and having to travel to an unfamiliar place, thousands of kilometres from family and friends, for life-saving treatment. Key points: A study has found 2,257 patients were transferred by the RFDS between 2014 and 2017 for mental or behavioural disorders Sixty-two per cent of the patients were men and …

Royal Hobart psychiatric ward full, 'home treatment' plan won't fix issue, doctor says
6 years ago

Royal Hobart psychiatric ward full, 'home treatment' plan won't fix issue, doctor says

ABC  

Months after images of mental health patients sleeping on the floor of the Royal Hobart Hospital emergency department shocked Tasmanians, it can be revealed the psychiatric ward has been full to capacity on all but two days of this year. Key points: The Royal Hobart Hospital's psychiatric ward has been at capacity every day this year, except two Senior clinicans …

Mental health patients at risk of suicide discharged from NHS without adequate support
6 years, 1 month ago

Mental health patients at risk of suicide discharged from NHS without adequate support

The Independent  

Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Psychiatrists said falling numbers of mental health beds and the loss of specialist units for …

Mental health patients in rural Australia feel 'forgotten', despite billions in funding
6 years, 2 months ago

Mental health patients in rural Australia feel 'forgotten', despite billions in funding

ABC  

Avocado grower Donna Duncan says she is "close to toppling over the edge". Ms Burscough said most contracts given to rural and regional mental health workers were short-term, which, coupled with the prospect of moving to a remote area, attracted fewer specialists. "Even though the Government might be spending money to get to come to these small country towns, not …

Victoria's mental health services 'sink to the absolute bottom' with tragic consequences
6 years, 5 months ago

Victoria's mental health services 'sink to the absolute bottom' with tragic consequences

ABC  

Melbourne woman Chloe Lashay walked out of hospital in a daze, with nothing more than some pamphlets and a bus fare. Ms Lashay first came into contact with Victoria's public mental health system five years ago, when she was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and complex trauma. "Patients with mental health issues who are coming to emergency departments with a …

Mental health service gaps affecting Tasmanians of all ages
6 years, 5 months ago

Mental health service gaps affecting Tasmanians of all ages

ABC  

A year after giving birth, Amelia Padgett convinced herself she was not a good mum and spiralled into thoughts of suicide. Dr Lavers has been lobbying the State Government for a dedicated child and adolescent mental health ward at the Royal, but she said her concerns had fallen on deaf ears. But Dr Lavers said the Royal needed a specific …

Revised Royal Hobart Hospital redevelopment plans welcomed by medical staff
6 years, 5 months ago

Revised Royal Hobart Hospital redevelopment plans welcomed by medical staff

ABC  

Doctors have welcomed changes to the redevelopment of the Royal Hobart Hospital, saying they will eventually help take the strain off the hospital's emergency department. Key points: The redevelopment plans for the Royal are changed to help ease ED pressures The nurses union complains there will be no immediate relief A new 12-bed mental health facility is to be built …

Andrew Wilkie calls for probe into whether suicide rate is linked to lack of hospital beds
6 years, 5 months ago

Andrew Wilkie calls for probe into whether suicide rate is linked to lack of hospital beds

ABC  

Independent Denison MP Andrew Wilkie is calling for a coronial investigation into whether there is a link between Tasmania's suicide rates and the reduction of acute mental health beds at the Royal Hobart Hospital. Key points: Suicide rate in Tasmania is higher than national average Mr Wilkie says higher rate coincided with reduction in acute mental health beds Opposition supports …

Tasmanian mental-health workers band together to stop patients going to hospital
6 years, 6 months ago

Tasmanian mental-health workers band together to stop patients going to hospital

ABC  

Mental-health workers have joined together to call for an urgent transformation of the sector to prevent people from ending up in Tasmanian hospitals. The call came after mental health patient Brent Gray told of his "horrific" time at the Royal Hobart Hospital. The Council's three-point plan calls for: The Government to publicly commit to working towards preventative health and early …

Royal Hobart Hospital: What is causing the problems at Tasmania's major health facility?
6 years, 11 months ago

Royal Hobart Hospital: What is causing the problems at Tasmania's major health facility?

ABC  

The Royal Hobart Hospital is regularly in the news for the wrong reasons; ambulance ramping, suicides, patients waiting days in the emergency department and low staff morale. "We clearly have a deficit in acute public hospital beds that has been estimated at around 200 for the whole state," RHH staff association president Frank Nicklason said. In May, new Health Minister …

Doctor warns Tasmania's 'health crisis' will cost lives and more funding needed
7 years ago

Doctor warns Tasmania's 'health crisis' will cost lives and more funding needed

ABC  

Australia's peak body for emergency medicine says overcrowding in the Royal Hobart Hospital's emergency department will cost lives. The Australasian College for Emergency Medicine's Dr Brian Doyle said the hospital's emergency department was "in crisis" and extra beds were needed now. "There is a crisis going on in the emergency departments in Tasmania, and it has to do with overcrowding …

Tasmanian election: Liberals promise child and adolescent mental health funding
7 years, 1 month ago

Tasmanian election: Liberals promise child and adolescent mental health funding

ABC  

Tasmania's Liberal Government says it will fund new mental health facilities for children and teenagers if re-elected. Three years ago, a coronial inquest in Hobart into the suicides of six teenagers heard Tasmania's Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service was the most poorly resourced in the country. "This is the largest ever increase in mental health funding, it builds on …

Tasmanian election: Hobart psychiatrist warns of constant bed block, as Labor unveils mental health plan
7 years, 1 month ago

Tasmanian election: Hobart psychiatrist warns of constant bed block, as Labor unveils mental health plan

ABC  

Morale is the lowest in 23 years and psychiatric patients continue to wait for days for a bed, a Hobart doctor says. Psychiatrist and AMA mental health spokesman Dr Richard Benjamin said staff at the Royal Hobart Hospital were struggling to deal with too few mental health beds and near constant bed block. It said it would also build an …

One in four people with acute mental health problems unable to get the help they need, study finds
7 years, 4 months ago

One in four people with acute mental health problems unable to get the help they need, study finds

The Independent  

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy One in four people who suffer from acute mental health …

Royal Hobart Hospital horror stories linked to bed shortages, inquiry hears
7 years, 4 months ago

Royal Hobart Hospital horror stories linked to bed shortages, inquiry hears

ABC  

A suicide in the Royal Hobart Hospital's emergency department waiting room and a patient "sexually touched" are among incidents aired at an inquiry into Tasmania's acute health services. If you or anyone you know needs help: Lifeline on 13 11 14 Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467 Beyond Blue on 1300 22 46 36 Headspace on 1800 650 …

Tasmania's acute health services slammed as under-resourced, 'inappropriate'
7 years, 6 months ago

Tasmania's acute health services slammed as under-resourced, 'inappropriate'

ABC  

Australia's peak psychiatry body has made a stinging assessment of Tasmania's mental health system, saying it is critically understaffed and not up to national standards. In a submission to an Upper House inquiry into the state's acute health services, The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists said there were not enough beds and specialist services for young people …

40 per cent of mental health units out of date or unsafe
7 years, 8 months ago

40 per cent of mental health units out of date or unsafe

Daily Mail  

Thousands of mental health patients are being treated in unsafe hospital units, warn inspectors. Two in five mental health services inspected in the last three years have not met safety requirements, the Care Quality Commission said. Some 40 per cent of NHS services and 39 per cent of private units were classed either as 'inadequate' or 'requires improvement' when it …

Mental health services at Royal Hobart under 'immense pressure', but Minister says bed numbers appropriate
7 years, 9 months ago

Mental health services at Royal Hobart under 'immense pressure', but Minister says bed numbers appropriate

ABC  

Staff at the Royal Hobart Hospital are warning there could be more "adverse outcomes" for mental health patients if the Health Minister continues to ignore their warnings. "Had sufficient beds been available in the mental health ward of the Royal Hobart Hospital then doubtless he would have been admitted and it is likely that he would not have taken his …

Mental health patients are being treated as criminals and sent to prisons rather than hospitals
7 years, 11 months ago

Mental health patients are being treated as criminals and sent to prisons rather than hospitals

The Independent  

The best of Voices delivered to your inbox every week - from controversial columns to expert analysis Sign up for our free weekly Voices newsletter for expert opinion and columns Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The number of beds available for …

Mental health funding boost in Victoria to target those at risk of committing crime
7 years, 11 months ago

Mental health funding boost in Victoria to target those at risk of committing crime

ABC  

The Victorian Government has revealed a $70-million plan to improve services for people with mental illnesses at risk of committing crimes, in an effort to prevent them from entering the justice system. The plan will see $40 million put towards expanding the Thomas Embling Hospital, a forensic facility where people with mental health issues who commit violent crimes are often …

Victoria budget: Spending boost of $27.5m aims to halve number of suicides
8 years, 11 months ago

Victoria budget: Spending boost of $27.5m aims to halve number of suicides

ABC  

A major boost for suicide prevention programs and a focus on so-called suicide "hotspots" will be the centrepiece of mental health investment in Wednesday's Victorian budget. Key points: Budget to include $356 million for mental health services $27.5 million will target suicide prevention strategies 654 suicides in Victoria in 2015, double the road toll The budget will include $356 million …

Royal Hobart Hospital: Concern over mental health bed pressures
8 years, 11 months ago

Royal Hobart Hospital: Concern over mental health bed pressures

ABC  

Pressure on mental health beds at the Royal Hobart Hospital is set to worsen, experts say, once patients are moved to temporary modules. The Australian Medical Association said space in the hospital for acute mental health beds would also drop from 4,400 square metres previously to 2,200 square metres once the demountable modules were in use. Psychiatrist and AMA mental …

NHS is to blame for 400 suicides a year due to failure to get a grip on epidemic
9 years, 1 month ago

NHS is to blame for 400 suicides a year due to failure to get a grip on epidemic

Daily Mail  

Hundreds of lives are being needlessly lost to suicide every year because of the Government’s failure to get a grip on a modern epidemic of mental health problems, a landmark report has found. The Mental Health Taskforce, set up a year ago under the leadership of Paul Farmer, Chief Executive of mental health charity Mind, blames chronic underinvestment and poor …

Austerity cuts are causing mental distress and are linked to rise in suicides, health professionals warn
9 years, 5 months ago

Austerity cuts are causing mental distress and are linked to rise in suicides, health professionals warn

The Independent  

Sign up to our free Living Well email for advice on living a happier, healthier and longer life Live your life healthier and happier with our free weekly Living Well newsletter Live your life healthier and happier with our free weekly Living Well newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. …

Mental health facility with 20 acute beds opens at James Nash house in Adelaide
9 years, 10 months ago

Mental health facility with 20 acute beds opens at James Nash house in Adelaide

ABC  

A new $22 million forensic mental health facility officially opened at James Nash House in Adelaide will ease pressure on hospital emergency departments, the State Government says. Increasing demand for mental health services has resulted in patients waiting for specialised care in hospital emergency departments for days. "I'm not going to pretend this is the panacea, but it will help …

Mental health patients 'overlooked' in SA Government's Transforming Health paper
10 years, 1 month ago

Mental health patients 'overlooked' in SA Government's Transforming Health paper

ABC  

There are concerns mental health patients have been overlooked in the South Australian Government's health system shake-up with doctors describing conditions as "inhumane" for those spending days in emergency departments. "It's part of our health system which is failing to deliver for very unwell mental health patients," Dr Pope said. He said "horrendous and inhumane" conditions in the emergency department …

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