A young mother was stuck for 48 hours in an Adelaide emergency department without treatment and “practically bed-bound” after seeking help for mental health issues.
Her husband “Michael” told 891 ABC Adelaide she had called a mental health line, seeking advice and assistance.
The operator felt Michael’s wife needed treatment quickly and sent an ambulance to the couple’s rural property, which transported her to the Lyell McEwin Hospital.
“She got to the emergency ward at the Lyell McEwin Hospital where they pretty much stuck her in a cubicle, slapped a detention order on her, which we were originally told was for 24 hours, [but] she’s still under that detention order,” Michael said.
“They got a physician to take a look at her to make sure she was okay physically, they had a mental health worker take a look and assess her and then that was pretty much it.
“We didn’t actually get that much help or any questions answered for about, well put it this way Friday afternoon, so two days of being in an emergency ward, she was transferred to a mental health unit where she is actually receiving treatment right now.”
Michael’s wife is now being treated at the mental health ward at Lyell McEwin, where she has shown some improvement.
But Michael said the 48 hours in the emergency ward had been horrific for his wife and their family, who were left quite distraught over the ordeal.
“For somebody that has asked for help and then basically is stuck in what I can describe as a six by four cell, essentially, and not being given any information or any help for that period of time, it was horrible,” Michael said.
“I watched her go from somebody who just asked to be helped to somebody who was honestly almost to the point where she was violent. So yeah she was over it, she was distraught.”
Detention order resulted in ‘no privacy’
As part of the detention order, Michael’s wife had to be monitored by a nurse 24 hours a day, which meant she had no privacy.
She was not allowed to leave the ward, and at first was only allowed to walk around the nurses’ station.
“And even by the end of the 48-hour period, they had revoked that from her and she was essentially bed bound,” Michael said.
Michael’s wife is now waiting for an opening at Glenside Hospital at Helen Mayo House, which specialises in mental health issues for mothers and children in particular.
“Even just at the mental health ward at the Lyell McEwin, she has show heaps of improvement and is just far happier to be there,” Michael said.
“She’s able to move around the ward better, she’s able to go outside, it’s just such a better place.”
As a consequence of the ordeal, Michael said his wife would unlikely phone the mental health line again.
“She’ll never do it again, and if I was in her situation I wouldn’t do it either,” Michael said.
“The treatment is just absolutely shocking. Even from somebody standing outside and looking in to see what’s happening, it’s just a joke.”
Health Minister ‘incredibly frustrated’ by waiting times
SA Health Minister Jack Snelling said he was continuously frustrated by the amount of time mental health patients were forced to spend in hospital emergency departments.
Mr Snelling told 891 ABC Adelaide the waiting time was unacceptable and compromised patient care.
“An ED is just the worst place for a mental health patient,” Mr Snelling said.
“The lights are on, any person going in there and having to stay there for two days it wouldn’t be good for your mental health.
“Someone who’s particularly vulnerable by reason of mental illness, it’s the worst place in the world.”
Mr Snelling said he had set a target for hospitals, which must be met by January 1, 2016, that there would be “no mental health patient waiting for 24 hours” in an emergency department.
“And I will be holding the chief executives accountable for meeting that target,” he said.
“It’s not a problem that can be fixed overnight, as much as I wish it was, there has to be some significant reform.”
The Flinders Medical Centre has introduced a ‘short-stay’ ward for mental health patients so that they can start treatment immediately and also to prevent long stays in the emergency department.
Mr Snelling said that had so far proven successful and would be rolled out at the Royal Adelaide Hospital.
“I’ll have to check what our plans are for the Lyell McEwin, but my expectation is that we would do the same at the Lyell Mac,” he said.