25 May 2021
South Australia’s mental health report card for emergency department (ED) presentations is the worst of the nation’s mainland states in key areas including patient wait times for a bed, The Advertiser reports.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) statistics reveal one in 10 mental health patients waited more than 27 hours and 45 minutes in SA public EDs to be admitted in 2019/20. The longest wait was for Tasmanians.
The key ED indicators, released by the AIHW this week, do not cover SA’s mental health post-COVID demand surge which began later last year and has resulted in patients stuck in EDs, sometimes for days.
The Advertiser reports that in South Australian public EDs:
- SIX hours and 50 minutes was the average ED waiting time for all mental health patients (worst in the nation behind Tasmania, with a nine-hour average wait);
- ONE in 10 mental health patients waited more than 143 minutes to be seen by a health professional (second highest to Tasmanians who waited 41 minutes more)
- ALMOST 43 per cent of all mental health-related presentations were not seen on time (the worst of any mainland state).
South Australia had the highest mental health-related proportion of ED presentations (5.0%) and New South Wales had the lowest proportion (3.3%).
“The figures come as no surprise and confirm our claims that SA has a mental health system failing to cope with demand,’’ said ANMF (SA Branch) CEO/Secretary Adj Associate Professor Elizabeth Dabars AM.
“We continue to urge the State Government to invest more in alternative places of accommodation better suited for those with mental health care needs.
“Emergency departments are inappropriate settings for the ongoing care of mental health patients. The high-stimulus nature of EDs and long wait times can often lead to agitation among patients, resulting in aggression and violence.’’
Based on our information, the ANMF believes the South Australian health system requires an immediate injection of an additional 30 to 40 mental health nurses in community with about 100 needed to fill vacant shifts including those in CALHN.
This is only to cover existing workforce shortfall let alone to meet any additional bed capacity which is also desperately required in order to provide relief to consumers and the workforce serving them.