Comments on: Privacy laws keep psych patients’ families out of the loop

By: Scott

Scott — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

So many things to comment on.

As someone else pointed out, I thought KEMH was a maternity hospital.

Privacy is a complex and difficult subject. I know of one patient with a serious physical condition who was discriminated against, to the detriment of her health, on the basis of stigmatisation. After a failed suicide attempt she was viewed as a "mental patient", not someone with serious physical injuries. Pain clinic specialists refused her appropriate treatment on a mistaken belief that she was an "addict". Had her mental diagnoses been kept aside from her medical record, they would have treated her physical condition without the bigotry.

As to the mental health system, there is not enough space to express my disgust. To take one example, a year or two before her suicide attempt, she had sought help, saying she was feeling suicidal. She was admitted for three days. She received no treatment. On the day of her discharge the psychiatric registrar handed her a yellow pages phone book with instructions to "find a therapist"!!! She did. The therapist turned out to be incompetent and her (the therapist's) maltreatment lead directly to the suicide attempt.

By the way, in Britain there is an organisation called POPAN, funded by the NHS, whose aim is to support patients who have been subjected to therapeutic abuse. To the best of my knowledge there is no similar organisation in Australia.

By: bev

bev — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

I think mental health is good in some ways, but some times you have to look further a field and build up some knowledge that gives you confidence to be a whole person again, and learn to have confidence in getting out in the, community,
Some people in our community who do suffer from mental health, do not have enough positive friends, to help them I know it is a difficult job helping some one who lacks confidence in themselves, but having a strong belief in God helps, and it gives you consolation, and strength to go on with life.

By: Dr Harvey M Tarvydas

Dr Harvey M Tarvydas — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

If medical staff (doctors & nurses) see themselves as agents of information transfer then they may well concern themselves with the to who and what laws but if they act as the obliged deliverer of a beneficial health outcome communication of information may be considered to be part of the method as if the knife sticking out of the abdomen has to be dealt with without any over-precious babble communication of information about the/to who and what laws of privacy.

By: Jenny Haines

Jenny Haines — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

I am not sure of the legalities here. Most Mental Health Acts require incoming mental health patients to be seen within 24 hours of admission by psychiatrists. Not contacting the family is not just a civil liberties question. People who are admitted on a voluntary basis to mental health facilties are often very fragile and in need of care and protection. If the family are able to contribute to that care and protection they should be contacted. If the family are going to make the patients mental health status worse it can become a difficult professional and ethical question, balancing the patient’s rights against treatment options. There is a mistaken belief that relatives care about the patient. Often they don’t, and even if contacted, don’t visit. There is no standard answer here as the situation can often be complex but the overriding consideration for staff is their duty of care.

By: Sam

Sam — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

While I empathised with the Erin Berg family I did not agree with their rage at the system. Firstly King Edward Memorial Hospital is a maternity hospital not a hospital for the mentally ill. Also, based upon my experience at Alma Street, Fremantle which is a mental health facility if you turn up as a carer with a mentally ill person you are expected to be part of the consultation and your input is valued. Also most mentally ill people, if they seem capable are not restrained or held by a hospital and if a person wishes to discharge themselves or leave the facility then they will not be stopped. The carer, as far as I’m aware is not contacted, as the patient is not considered a prisoner and the carer is not usually seen as an enemy of the patient. The privacy laws only hindered us when we originally started in the private system, going public opened up communication and respect for the carer tenfold. Is there room for improvement? probably. Is the solution simple? History says no.