The issue of maltreatment and neglect of mental health patients – and their facilities – is not just endemic to South Africa, it appears. Previously, MedicalBrief has reported on similar situations in Britain, and now, Australian healthcare staff have opened the lid on the same issue in that country.
Hospital staff in Sydney recently appealed for ministerial intervention, complaining about bungling management and unfilled vacancies, and claiming they’re forced to work in dangerous environments and that patients at the state’s largest psychiatric institution are sleeping on bare mattresses on the floors.
In an anonymous letter, Cumberland Hospital whistle-blowers asked Health Minister Ryan Park for help, alleging that among other issues, patients were being “manhandled” by external security contractors and being made to sleep on beds with no linen.
Beds were only made up and activities scheduled for patients when hospital accreditors were due to visit the facility, said the writers, adding that the hospital was being stripped of resources, staff were told not to report adverse incidents, and were bullied and threatened if they voiced concerns.
“Culture in mental health is toxic, bullying is rampant and morale is at an all-time low.”
The Sydney Morning Herald reports that a spokesperson for Park said he took the issues “very seriously”.
It is the latest salvo in a worsening rift between the NSW Health bureaucracy and the doctors and nurses employed in the state’s hospitals.
Last year a group of distinguished clinicians from hospitals across NSW said staff were working in dangerously under-resourced environments, while administrators “deflect blame at every level” when their budget-driven decisions led to mishaps and patient deaths.
The letter to Park alleged that Cumberland management had been prioritising spending on external cleaning and security contractors and legal battles, instead of building the workforce and providing quality care for patients.
It also alleged the hospital had been stripped of its occupational therapists and dieticians, that recruitment was being bungled, and key leadership roles filled by part-time staff who were frequently unavailable to answer employee concerns.
Some teams were plagued by “massive” vacancies, it alleged, and assault rates were high.
The letter accused the local health district’s management of bullying and intimidating staff who spoke up with their concerns about how the facility was being run.
Cumberland Hospital is currently at the centre of a criminal prosecution after the deaths of two of its nurses in late 2020.
The Western Sydney Local Health District has been accused of failing its duty of care to the nurses, after concerns about a culture of bullying and intimidation at Cumberland were raised more than a year before their deaths.
A district spokesperson said all complaints or concerns were dealt with “in accordance with NSW Health Policy”.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Dangerously decrepit facilities put UK mental health patients at risk
SAHRC orders adequate housing for mental health patients
Mental healthcare law challenge dismissed by ConCourt