A psychiatrist attacked by a patient on her second day working at the troubled Swanston Centre pushed for changes at the psychiatric hospital, but believes staff and patients have been let down by years of inaction.
Victoria’s Public Advocate has also urged the state government to improve safety in the mental health system, saying reports of abuse, neglect, and violence are common in settings where patients are entitled to safe treatment.
They have raised their concerns after a 31-year-old man was killed in his room at Geelong’s Swanston Centre on February 22, allegedly by another patient he had been sharing a bathroom with.
As revealed by The Age, the death is the latest in a string of traumatic and violent events at the hospital over recent years, with staff and the grieving families of former patients saying they have been trying to raise the alarm for a decade. They claim outdated wards with shared bathrooms and blind spots, as well as staffing shortages, compromise safety.
After a 20-year career as a psychiatrist, Dr Helen Schultz was assaulted by a patient while working as a locum at the Swanston Centre on June 16, 2022, and has never worked in a psychiatric hospital since.
Days after the incident, Schultz detailed allegations of inappropriate and unsafe practices in the hospital to WorkSafe, and the authority later ordered Barwon Health, which operates the facility, to improve processes.
“I’m so angry. I tried to tell them in 2022, but nothing has changed,” Schultz said. “I’ve never seen anywhere else like it.”
While seeing Swanston Centre patients during a six-week placement in 2022, Schultz was asked to urgently assess a man who had been admitted against his will under the Mental Health Act.
“He’d been in there a few days without a risk assessment – somebody like him should have been having daily risk assessments – and no treatment,” Schultz said.
“When he came into the room there was no doubt he was so sick.”
As well as being asked to assess the man in a windowless, closed interview room and without a duress alarm, Schultz said she was stunned that the patient was allowed to be carrying a mug of hot coffee. Moments later he lurched at Schultz, swore and threw coffee into her face and across the walls. After smashing his mug, the man pushed past Schultz, a registrar and two nurses, and escaped into a public area near the hospital’s main entrance.
He used a wheelie bin to barricade himself for an hour in the public area while throwing furniture, eventually being removed by two police officers and three security guards. He was sedated in the acute ward while Schultz continued her rounds to see other patients.
Schultz said she struggled at the thought of returning to the Swanston Centre the next morning and called a friend to say she didn’t think she could step back into a psychiatric ward to face patients again.
She told The Age it wasn’t only the physical threat against her, but the helplessness for patients relying on units such as the Swanston Centre that ended her clinical career.
“The devastation when you know you could treat somebody like that with your eyes shut, and you could actually make them better so that when they leave the hospital they have their insight back, and they are back to where they used to be … not being able to do that is the worst injury for a doctor,” Schultz said.
“I think the whole place needs to be closed down. They need to start listening to the people who actually know what they are talking about.”
Police charged the patient over the attack, but he was not convicted due to his mental impairment. Schultz retired from clinical practice and now works in a medical legal capacity.
Barwon Health’s chief medical officer, Affiliate Professor Ajai Verma, said staff and patient safety was its highest priority.
“All inpatient units are appropriately staffed, and every patient receives timely access to a psychiatrist,” Verma said.
“Whilst we cannot comment on individual cases or patients, we are committed to continuous improvement and consistently act on recommendations arising from both internal reviews and external regulatory bodies.
“Any and all incidents are reviewed through established clinical and operational governance processes.”
A Victoria Police investigation into the alleged homicide at the Swanston Centre remains ongoing, and no charges have been laid.
Staff working there told this masthead they found a 31-year-old Highton man dead in his room with his neighbour standing over his body and broken glass nearby about 2am on February 22.
The two men had been placed in the hospital’s acute ward in outdated “Jack and Jill”-style rooms – where a shared bathroom allows them to access their neighbours’ rooms undetected by staff – which are being phased out of mental health settings due to safety concerns.
The man’s death came after a string of security incidents at the Swanston Centre over recent years, including several deaths investigated by the coroner, attacks on staff and patients, and claims of outdated facilities that make it difficult to retain staff.
Victorian Public Advocate Dan Stubbs said he could not comment on individual services or matters under investigation, but systemic concerns about the mental health system have been raised for the past six years by their authorised visitors to mental health facilities who monitor care standards.
Stubbs warned that unless funding and planning was stepped up to implement recommendations of the royal commission into mental health, dangers would continue in inpatient services.
“Many inpatient units are operating in environments that were not designed to meet contemporary safety and therapeutic standards,” he said.
“When facilities are outdated or upgrades are delayed without comprehensive system planning, risks to consumers and staff increase.”
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