45-hour ED wait for hospital bed shows access to mental health services is now ‘way worse’

After 45 hours sitting in an emergency room, a young girl was finally given a bed in a mental health ward.

The interminable wait has been described as “sad” by a clinical psychologist.

Mental-health activist and co-founder of Voices of Hope Jazz Thornton took to social media recently to share what she had witnessed with her friend during the long ED wait.

The name of the hospital was not disclosed in the social media post.

Thornton posted during the wait on May 12 to express how upset she was at the mental-health system.

“A girl that doctors deemed was in immediate danger and they needed to enforce the mental health act. Yet, she still remains 33 hours later in the emergency department,” she wrote.

After the post, the girl waited another 12 hours to be admitted.

The Ministry of Health says the Mental Health (Compulsory assessment and treatment) Act 1992 can be enforced by police and other authorised individuals.

The act provides for compulsory psychiatric assessment and treatment for people who are experiencing a mental illness and require it.

Thornton continued in her post that the kicker of the long hospital visit could have been avoided if there had been more staff.

“There are at least 10 free beds in the mental health unit. However, there are no staff to look after those beds,” she wrote.

“I am often one to always try talk from a place of hope, and while I know in my heart there is always hope – this right now is the reality."

Clinical psychologist and chief executive of Umbrella Wellbeing Dr Dougal Sutherland said when he first saw Thornton’s social-media post, he did a double-take at the length of time they waited.

“It's terrible. It's two days. It's certainly the worst I've ever heard of,” he said.

Thornton says in her social media posts the mental health ward operated on a “one in, one out” system.

Dr Sutherland says this process is sad and highlights a lack of services and support.

He says there's little flexibility in the system.

“We don't operate our physical health system on that [basis], so why would we operate our mental health on that,” he says.

Dr Sutherland, a clinical psychologist for 25 years, says he believes the quality of mental health services has improved over the past 10 to 15 years, but the demand is too high to keep up with.

“If you get into the system, you’ll probably get good help but the getting in is certainly way worse than I've ever seen it before,” he says.

Dr Sutherland says from a professional point of view, he believes the Government needs to back up its Minister of Mental Health, Matt Doocey.