Need more help, GP tells inquest

WHEN SOMEONE’S AT THAT POINT, WHEN THEY’RE WILLING TO SAY, ‘PLEASE HELP ME’ … THEY’VE ESCALATED AS FAR AS THEY ARE GOING TO ESCALATE TO JULIE LATTIMER

A GENERAL practitioner has given a court an insight into the demand for mental health services in Tasmania.

Dr Sophia Ahmed, who gave evidence yesterday at the inquest into the July 2016 death of Mornington man Joseph Lattimer, said she provided care to many mental health patients, including Mr Lattimer in the months before his death.

Dr Ahmed said there was “so much more” that could be done to help mental health patients generally. “I just wish there was more hours in the day and more people around,” Dr Ahmed said.

“I work six days a week, I complete my notes till 10, 11 at night, I’m always more or less on call. It seems there [is] more we can do. It’s never enough, it’s never complete.”

Dr Ahmed said Mr Lattimer had “a lot of support” from his family and Anglicare and she said he “was on the mend in many ways” in the lead-up to his death.

The inquest into Mr Lattimer’s death began in Hobart on Monday.

Coroner Olivia McTaggart has heard Mr Lattimer, 37, died following an attempt to take his own life while waiting for admission to the Royal Hobart Hospital for psychiatric treatment.

Mr Lattimer’s mother Julie Lattimer gave evidence yesterday.

Mrs Lattimer described her son as a caring man with a dry sense of humour.

“I miss Joe heaps and it’s been traumatic,” she told the court. She said her son had written a series of prayers, which she found in his room following his death and which she said gave her “great comfort”.

Mrs Lattimer read one of the prayers to the court, which included the line: “Forever shall we be in [God’s] powerful loving arms together with the angels singing praises in his name.”

“So I know where my son is and I have peace,” Mrs Lattimer said.

The court heard Mr Lattimer had called triple-0 early on July 10, 2016 and was taken by ambulance to the Royal Hobart Hospital. He arrived at the hospital at 5.02am and was waiting in the emergency department waiting area.

A triage nurse told the court she assessed Mr Lattimer’s case as urgent and requiring treatment within 30 minutes. The nurse said she monitored Mr Lattimer, but after she triaged another patient at 5.44am, she realised Mr Lattimer was no longer in the waiting area.

Ms McTaggart told the nurse there was no criticism of her work or the way she dealt with Mr Lattimer.

The court also heard that since Mr Lattimer’s death, paramedics who bring mental health patients to the Royal Hobart Hospital are required to wait with the patients until they are admitted, a process known as ramping, and which can sometimes take hours.

Mrs Lattimer yesterday said that by the time her son reached the hospital his condition would not “escalate” any further.

“When someone’s at that point, when they’re willing to say, ‘please help me’ … they’ve escalated as far as they are going to escalate to,” she said.

Mrs Lattimer also said checking a patient’s medical history is something that should be done when they are triaged, which in her son’s case would have revealed he had an acquired brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety. The inquest continues.