Staff working at Canberra’s Adult Mental Health Unit feel unsafe about their working conditions and fear violent outbursts from patients, according to documents obtained under Freedom of Information (FOI) laws.
Violence at AMHU had been an ongoing concern since its opening in March 2012.
The nurses union and ACT Health admitted some level of violence in acute mental health facilities is inevitable.
But Jenny Miragaya from the ACT branch of the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) said the risks needed to be managed.
“Which means that it may be that there be additional staff, additional specialising, there may be use of high dependency units, it could be seclusion or it could in fact be increased sedation required,” she said.
The FOI documents revealed nurses’ concerns that staffing levels were often inadequate and compromised the level of care provided.
A string of critical incident reports were lodged this year by staff concerned about gaps in the roster.
A common complaint was that sick leave was often unable to be filled, or was filled by inexperienced staff, leading to critical shortages.
Executive director of ACT Mental Health, Justice Health and Alcohol and Drug Services, Katrina Bracher said there were teething problems with their centralised after-hours roster management system.
“We’ve worked very hard with the after-hours roster office to minimise those concerns and the gaps in the rosters,” she said.
Ms Bracher said every effort had been made to ensure staff have the appropriate skills.
“About 30 per cent of our nursing staff are postgraduate trained mental health nurses. So we do have a highly skilled workforce.
“Could it be more? Well we’re always working towards that.”
Police did not attend nurse assault
The FOI documents also outlined some of the physical assaults on medical staff, including a nurse who was punched in the face three times.
A ‘code black’ was initiated and police were contacted, but they did not attend.
Police said they did not see the point in pressing charges because the offender was mentally ill.
The ANMF and ACT Health criticised the police response, saying if a nurse wanted to press charges they should have the right to do so.
ACT Policing said in a statement that the shortcomings of the police response to the incident have been assessed, with appropriate remedial action undertaken.
Smoking ban questioned
The FOI documents also revealed a doctor who was assaulted by a patient wrote an email saying he suspected the patient would be easier to manage if the patient was allowed to smoke.
Ms Bracher said not all staff supported the smoking ban and it could be better managed.
“I think from time to time we have slip-ups in terms of our rigour around that,” she said.
“I’ve very recently actually reinforced my expectation with staff that they apply the smoke-free policy in a compassionate and caring way for consumers, so that it doesn’t escalate their concerns.”