A depressing story

The underfunding of psychiatric care in virtually all Western countries seems just standard practice nowadays, but it's depressing to read about its effects in your own locality:

Three people have taken their own lives inside a locked mental health unit at The Prince Charles Hospital in the past 16 months, triggering an independent review.

Two other patients were able to severely self-harm inside the 60-bed unit during the same period, the last one being in April.

Families of the patients and unit staff have this week been advised of the review, which will begin later this month and is expected to be finished by late July.

Mental health support organisation SANE said families "have an expectation" that their loved ones were "going to be safe" when they were in hospital.

"Families and carers often express significant relief having gotten someone to hospital, that's often a very difficult thing to do to actually get someone admitted," chief executive Rachel Green said.

Further down, look at these figures:

Data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare showed 18 people died by suicide in an acute psychiatric unit in 2020-21, up from 15 the year before. 

Adjunct Professor Hancock said the five incidents inside The Prince Charles Hospital mental health unit involved both men and women across different age ranges and under the care of different psychiatrists.

Incidents had occurred inside both wards of the mental health unit....

Professor Emmerson, a member of the Queensland Mental Health Commission advisory council, said the state was about 3000 mental health staff and 370 beds short of what was needed in the public sector.

"Our mental health units are full all the time," Professor Emmerson said.

"Psychiatrists are faced every day with having to make decisions of discharging people early who should be in hospital, but because you've got sicker people, and riskier people, sitting in the emergency department, we're forced to discharge people from hospital prematurely.

"We don't yet have the capacity in the community mental health teams to provide the follow up these people need."