Help was within reach
Veteran discharged from hospital despite clinic plan
A Townsville veteran was discharged from hospital without treatment despite an arrangement for him to be taken to a private mental health facility to get help hours before he died.
Steven Angus, 52, was fatally shot by officers on April 21 after running at police with knives, nine hours after he was discharged from Townsville University Hospital where he was taken by ambulance the previous night in wake of a siege.
It can be revealed there was an arrangement between agencies for Mr Angus to be taken to the Townsville Private Clinic, a facility where he had been before, after sobering up at the public hospital.
But the initial plan wasn’t followed, and Mr Angus was instead discharged from Townsville University Hospital instead of being taken to the private facility.
Nine hours later Mr Angus would be dead.
Townsville Hospital and Health Service chief executive Kieran Keyes has committed to a full investigation into the incident, but didn’t answer questions about the arrangement.
Townsville Private Clinic declined to comment when approached on Thursday.
Queensland Police Union president Ian Leavers said the revelation “defied belief”.
“The daily admissions by Queensland Health of their own … rank amateurism in releasing this man rather than treating him in hospital because they deemed him ‘too drunk’, and now the latest revelation that he should have been transferred to a private mental health clinic however was instead thrown out on to the street to fend for himself in a seriously intoxicated and delusional state where he could threaten harm to himself and others, just defies belief,” he said.
After a two-hour police siege with Mr Angus on April 20 was resolved safely, it’s understood there was an arrangement made between agencies about his care.
Mr Angus was suffering a severe mental health crisis, threatening to harm himself, and was very intoxicated.
It’s understood an arrangement had been made for Mr Angus to be taken to Townsville University Hospital where he would sober up, before being transferred to Townsville Private Clinic.
Townsville Private Clinic is a mental health facility in the North Queensland city which includes programs and support for veterans and defence personnel, as well as tailored programs for Department of Veteran Affairs (DVA) patients.
Once a patient is admitted they are unable to leave for the first 24 hours following admission, and any leave after that period needs to be approved by an in-house psychiatrist, according to the website. It’s understood Mr
Angus had been to the clinic before.
Instead, the plan wasn’t followed, and Mr Angus was discharged from the public hospital just before 8am on April 21.
Police were called back to a Kirwan house about 4.40pm the same day where Mr Angus was threatening to harm himself, but this time he was armed with knives.
Within 15 minutes of police arriving, Mr Angus ran at police with the knives and a senior officer was forced to shoot him multiple times and he died.
Mr Keyes said it would be “reckless and pre-emptive” to make any more comments until the review was completed in July.