Transfers of mental health patients cost police hours of patrol time ...

A REVIEW HAS HEARD POLICE OFFICERS WERE BEING FORCED TO ?RAMP? ALONGSIDE AMBULANCES WHILE WAITING TO HAND OVER MENTAL HEALTH PATIENTS.
THE COURIER-MAIL

FRONTLINE police are wasting hours ?ramped? outside overcrowded emergency departments waiting to hand over mental health patients in their custody.

Police say it is taking them away from their main duty of patrolling streets.

A major review into the state?s mental health system has revealed the number of hours spent by police escorting patients to and from their homes, mental health facilities, hospitals and courts has risen dramatically.

It showed the number of ?mental health incidents? requiring police assistance doubled in the past five years and the number of hours spent escorting patients each year has grown from 2248 to 5860 hours.

The review, tabled in Parliament earlier this month, also heard officers were being forced to ?ramp? alongside ambulances while they waited at emergency departments to hand over the patients.

?Police will stay with the patient (at the ED) to ensure their safety and the safety of others until the patient received assessment and required medical attention,? review author Prof Bryant Stokes wrote.

?Police were concerned that on the occasions when they must use the police division van to take a patient to ED, they have to ramp with the ambulances.

?Officers cautioned and were concerned that they are not able to provide the patient with adequate assistance in this situation.?

Health Minister Kim Hames yesterday confirmed that on occasions police have to wait with ambulances to bring mentally ill patients into hospitals.

?The only way to truly alleviate ambulance ramping is to open more hospital beds, which we are doing as fast as we can,? Dr Hames said.

Police Union president George Tilbury said officers often waited for ?hours on end? at emergency departments and the current system was ?wasting vast amounts of valuable police resources?.

?This is unacceptable for people with mental health issues, police and the community,? Mr Tilbury said.

?Funding for mental health in this state is grossly inadequate and until such time as the Government commits significant additional resources, police have no option but to fill the void.?

WA Police is continually planning and backfilling roles when patients need to be transferred.

In some cases of long-distance transfers, officers are flown from Perth to country towns to escort a patient, the review was told.

The findings prompted a recommendation for a metropolitan-wide mental health transport system, similar to that operating in NSW.

Under the program, police provide assistance at initial contact and mental health-trained ambulance officers transport patients without police escorts.

Commander Fred Gere, from the Metropolitan Region office, said the agency was ?supportive of the findings from the report and look forward to working with the respective agencies in implementing the recommendations that involve police?.

Article source: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/transfers-of-mental-health-patients-cost-police-hours-of-patrol-time/story-e6frf7jo-1226523482237

Source: http://www.mhhub.com/archives/25759

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