Mental health unit alarm

HEALTH organisations are calling for the State Government to abandon plans to open a new mental health observation unit at the Royal Hobart Hospital over “grave” concerns it is unfit for its purpose.

In a joint statement, the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation, Australian Medical Association Tasmania, RHH Medical Staff Association and the Health and Community Services Union called for Premier Will Hodg- man, Health Minister Michael Ferguson and the Tasmanian Health Service chief executive David Alcorn to immediately halt the opening, expected on December 11.

The group said the Government needed to instead conduct “meaningful consul- tation” with clinical staff and commit to opening 10 additional acute mental health inpatient beds in southern Tasmania.

Acute psychiatric beds at the RHH have been reduced to 32, down from 42 in 2013.

The Government has instead proposed eight shortstay accommodation places — five beds and three chairs — in the new mental health observation unit.

The health organisations said the Government should “explain the decision-making behind opening a unit that is regarded as unfit for purpose by our unions and organisations” and “use the scarce space on site at the RHH by opening beds that will improve patient flow from the emergency department into hospital beds for unwell Tasmanians”.

“Should the [Mental Health Observation Unit] proceed, health unions, organisations and their members hold grave concerns about the ability of mental health patients to receive the quality care they deserve,” the statement said.

The AMA has previously raised concerns that safe mental health care could not be provided to patients in the new unit and it would increase the risk of assaults on staff.

AMA Tasmania president Stuart Day has said clinicians could not work out which patients could be appropriately sent to the new unit “because they don’t think it’s therapeutic”.

Mr Ferguson said the unit was proposed by senior staff in response to increased demand to provide short-stay care for people who present to the emergency department with mental health issues.

He said further consultation was under way and the unit had received in-principle support from some senior specialists.