Health sector in battle for zero suicide target

‘‘never about whether there are beds’’ and people stayed ‘‘as long as they need to’’.

‘‘The question is how long do you keep them in hospital.’’

A compulsory treatment order, obtained through court, allowed enforced treatment for 30 days after an assessment.

Some families sought to have their loved ones kept in hospital for longer but Renison said clinicians had to balance patient safety with human rights.

Keeping people in hospital ‘‘was not helpful’’, making it harder for them to cope in the community.

A family’s desire to be involved in a loved one’s care had to be balanced with a patient’s right to privacy. This would only be breached if someone was considered to be at immediate risk, Renison said.

‘‘It’s an incredibly difficult position to be in because we need people to have confidence that when they tell us stuff and they don’t want it shared, that that’s going to be the case.

‘‘Otherwise they are going to stop telling us stuff.’’

Renison said the health sector had a target of zero suicides. ‘‘We don’t accept that it’s OK for people to kill themselves and that it’s unavoidable.’’

But she said there was no proven method for reducing suicide rates. ‘‘Everything everyone does is aspirational and experimental.’’