MENTAL health services at the Mount Gambier and District Hospital have improved, according to the State’s leading psychiatrist.
In August of last year, South Australia’s chief psychiatrist Doctor John Brayley imposed temporary conditions on the hospital after it was found the mental health services there required an intervention plan.
This was lifted recently.
The temporary conditions on the hospital were imposed after an inspection identified issues relating to the management of at-risk patients who leave the emergency department, the current reliance on police assistance to manage patient behaviours of concern, the reporting of incidents, and some facility concerns which included the need for improvement in the duress system.
Limestone Coast Local Health Network chief executive Ngarie Buchanan welcomed Dr Brayley’s decision to revoke the temporary conditions and worked closely with his office to address the concerns raised.
“To help improve the service to mental health patients occupying beds in the general ward, we established a mental health consultation liaison and triage service for Mount Gambier Hospital, and recruited an additional consultant psychiatrist and registrars,” Ms Buchanan said.
“The additional medical workforce has provided greater capacity to address the service demands and provide care for mental health patients in general hospital beds.
“We have put in place strategies to reduce the reliance on police assistance to manage patient behaviours of concern, including increased training for key personnel and training for security firm staff and we conducted a review of procedures addressing challenging behaviour incidents and have increased security presence in the emergency department at the hospital at peak times, in addition to security positioned outside the emergency department.”
The chief executive said they had received excellent participation in mental health training for emergency department staff with a significant increase in reporting of challenging behaviour incidents.
“We are proud of our staff who have worked together to address the recommendations set out by the psychiatrist office and deliver improved services to mental health consumers,” Ms Buchanan said.
“We will continue to review and identify new ways to improve the system and are committed to continuous improvement of the service for our patients and staff.”
