Little hope in findings
LIDIA and Michael Di Lembo are angry.
They’re angry that after sitting through days of an inquest into their daughter’s suicide, they still can’t be sure any recommendations to come from the Coroner will be listened to.
They’re angry they will only be recommendations, that no one can enforce them immediately. That they’ll have to wait for a government to consider them, and only then may change occur.
And they’re angry that, having worked in government for decades, they know changes may never occur and all the pain they’ve gone through listening to an inquest into their daughter’s death may be for nothing.
Sabrina Di Lembo, 19, took her life in August last year after experiencing anxiety and panic attacks in the lead-up to university exams.
The inquest heard Sabrina’s doctors repeatedly mismanaged her bout of depression and anxiety, combing through the treatment by two GPs, one of whom had not passed the exam allowing her to practise unsupervised nine years after she started her GP training.
Tomorrow, Coroner Greg Cavanagh will hand down his findings, including any recommendations into how the mental health system in the Territory could be improved.
And improvement is all the Di Lembos want. They know their daughter isn’t coming back. They just want an improved system, so no other families have to go through what they have.
“If doing this saves just one family from this, stops just one kid, it’s enough,” Mr Di Lembo said. “But the thing is, we’ll never know if that’s happened.”
Mrs Di Lembo is worried any recommendations would be lost in government paperwork, destined for a wastepaper bin.
“Who is going to make sure that that stuff happens?” she asked. “Unless there’s another suicide and there’s another inquest ... do we have to wait for other people to die for this stuff to be actioned? That’s my worry.”
The findings are expected to be handed down tomorrow at 10am.