10 hours ago
Patient allegedly reached for police officer's gun in incident at Flinders Medical Centre, doctors claim
South Australia Police has launched an investigation after doctors alleged a patient attempted to grab a police officer's firearm at one of Adelaide's biggest public hospitals.
The allegation is outlined in a report sent by the SA Salaried Medical Officers Association (SASMOA) to the state's work safety authority, following doctor concerns of a recent "escalation of violence" at the Flinders Medical Centre (FMC) emergency department in Adelaide's south.
"One doctor stated: 'This was a near miss, critical incident, (potential) mass shooting'," SASMOA chief industrial officer, Bernadette Mulholland, wrote in the report.
"The medical officer was clearly shaken."
SA Health has confirmed a "vulnerable patient approached a police officer and reached towards them", but said police had "no record of any incident".
SA Police told ABC News it had launched an investigation to "substantiate the accuracy of the allegation".
According to Ms Mulholland, the alleged incident occurred last Friday.
"The violent patient had been restrained in one cubicle and had been sleeping," she wrote in the report to SafeWork SA.
"The patient woke up.
"Across from this patient's cubicle another patient had police security.
"The police officer who was looking after their patient was unaware that the patient in the other cubicle had awoken.
Ms Mulholland wrote that after the incident, "fear ran right through the medical staff".
"I attended (Flinders Medical Centre) at approx. 5.00 PM and spoke to doctors who were clearly shaken and worried and wanted a response," she wrote.
In a statement to ABC News, SA Police said it had no record of the incident occurring, but an investigation was now underway.
"South Australia Police will assist with any inquiries from SA Health or SafeWork SA during the investigation," a spokesperson said.
SA Health said it had already investigated the incident and confirmed a "vulnerable patient" reached towards a police officer.
The department said the police officer guided the patient back to their treating nurse, "who returned the patient back to their area as per standard procedure".
Southern Adelaide Local Health Network CEO Kerrie Mahon told ABC News the incident was handled "as per procedure and did not require escalation, or a report, to SAPOL".
"There is never any hesitation in reporting a patient or incident to police if there are safety concerns," she wrote.
"We are committed to providing a safe environment for our staff and consumers."
According to Ms Mulholland, police were called to respond to a different patient who attended FMC's emergency department (ED) on Wednesday.
She wrote that the patient was deemed "too dangerous" for the hospital's security workers to restrain.
"The staff and patients were in significant danger and there was nothing to be done but to allow the man to leave the ED for fear of physical harm to others in the ED," Ms Mulholland wrote.
"The police were called and the patient was restrained by STAR (Special Tasks and Rescue) Force officers and returned to the ED."
SA Police said it provided assistance at hospitals across the state when SA Health staff determined that additional training or resources were necessary to manage a situation.
"For this particular incident, SA Police would need more details to accurately identify and report on it," a spokesperson said.
Ms Mulholland said following the incidents, one doctor asked for a stabbing vest for protection against "highly aggressive patients".
She said over the past few weeks, several patients had threatened doctors and caused property damage in the emergency department.
She said one patient "headbutted" one of the emergency department's airlock doors, smashing the glass, while another used a wet floor sign to smash a nurse's station window.
"[Doctors] believe we are only days, if not weeks away, from a significant incident," she told ABC News.
"I have not seen this level of violence before at the Flinders Medical Centre.
"It has reached the tipping point now where we actually need to do something about violence in our emergency departments because of long wait stays of many different types of patients, including mental health patients."
In a statement, SafeWork SA confirmed it received a report from Ms Mulholland on Monday outlining allegations of potential work, health and safety breaches at FMC.
"SafeWork SA will now review the report to determine whether the alleged contraventions are substantiated," a spokesperson said.
"Appropriate actions will be considered based on the findings."
Ms Mulholland said some of the violence was prompted by mental health patients, including people under the influence of methamphetamines, waiting up to 60 hours in the FMC emergency department for a bed.
ABC News has asked SA Health to respond to SASMOA's allegations of work, health and safety breaches, mental health patient wait times, and concerns about drug-induced violence, but has yet to receive a response.
SASMOA and the state government are currently negotiating on a new enterprise bargaining agreement, with the union threatening to strike over the government's pay offer.
