Latest news with #WestmeadHospital
ABC News
a day ago
- Health
- ABC News
They've seen mental health care pushed to breaking point, and are sounding the alarm
Psychiatrists fear they are witnessing the collapse of public mental health care in NSW. ( Four Corners: Mark Hiney ) A corridor, in one of the country's busiest emergency departments, has become a makeshift waiting room. People wait on chairs and sleep on the floor. In April, one man in desperate need of help waited 93 hours — almost four days — for a mental health bed. The man forced to wait in Sydney's Westmead Hospital has schizoaffective disorder, a condition that combines psychosis with mood episodes like mania or depression. Two other men, one with paranoid ideation and another with schizophrenia, waited 88 hours and 86 hours alongside him. In April, one man waited 93 hours at Westmead Hospital. ( Four Corners: Nick Wiggins ) These wait times are part of an extraordinary number of leaks Four Corners has received from within the NSW mental health system, uncovering a shocking deterioration of services the state government doesn't want Australians to see. Doctors and other health workers say they can stay silent no longer, fearing they are witnessing the collapse of public mental health care in NSW. They've seen people in serious mental health crisis turned away from care, patients discharged before it's safe, and interminable wait times boil over into life-threatening violence. 'My patients deserve better' Teaghanne Sarina. ( Four Corners: Maddy King ) Teaghanne Sarina, a mental health nurse at Westmead Emergency Department and Cumberland Hospital has seen wait times at the ED blow out. "When the [ED] is full, you are either sat in the waiting room or if you're scheduled, you're sat in a chair that sort of sits outside where nursing staff can keep an eye on you in a contained environment. "You'll remain there… until we can find a bed space available to you." Ms Sarina, a NSW Nurses and Midwives' Association member, heard about the man forced to wait more than 90 hours. "I cannot fathom how that individual felt. "They were [scheduled] under the Mental Health Act, which meant they didn't have any right to leave the hospital, they couldn't go home. "They were stuck in an overstimulating environment, which we know is not a therapeutic environment for a patient presenting with a mental health crisis and that seems to be happening more and more. "I think largely that is due to the fact that we have had such an extensive increase in our general population in these areas without there being an increase to services and resources. "If nothing changes, people will get hurt and there'll be a mass exodus of staff. My patients deserve better. My colleagues deserve better. I deserve better." 'I thought I was going to die' Excessive wait times can lead to frustration, which can escalate into violence against staff. It's a trend witnessed by doctors around the country. CCTV footage leaked to Four Corners shows a man trying to escape the hospital after waiting for hours in the ED in April. When nurses and security tried to stop him, he bit one of them. This has become the norm for frontline staff — one security guard described Westmead's emergency department as a "fight club". Sometimes it has devastating consequences. Omar Tlais. ( Four Corners: Maddy King ) Omar Tlais, worked as a security guard at Westmead for almost three years. After what happened to him, he'll never go back. "I've been bit, I've been punched, I've been kicked, I've been spat on. "In June last year, I was called to attend the emergency department for a code black … there was a patient who … was very irritated. "From my knowledge, he had been there for over 12 hours. "A nurse came over and explained to the patient that they were gonna sedate him. "He obviously wasn't too happy with that. He said, 'I just wanted to see a doctor'. "It got to the point where he was again calm and compliant. He said to me, 'OK, look, I'll do it'. "As soon as he saw the needle, he pretty much stood up from the bed, jumped pretty much on my back, pulled a knife out of his jacket and stabbed me in the neck. "I thought I was going to die." Omar in hospital, after he was stabbed. ( Supplied ) 'Never embarrass the minister' Workforce shortages have forced mental health services to close and left staff struggling to keep the system functioning. Two mental health wards and a mental health assessment centre at Cumberland and Westmead hospitals were quietly closed in January. Cumberland Hospital, in Sydney's west. ( Four Corners: Nick Wiggins ) Four Corners has found that overnight at Cumberland, Australia's largest mental health hospital, there's only one trainee psychiatrist to cover the entire facility. To clear beds, doctors have told Four Corners they have been forced to discharge patients before they're ready. Dr Anu Kataria worked for 22 years as a psychiatrist at Cumberland. She said they would arrive at work to texts asking them to "please discharge" patients as "there's 15 people waiting [at Westmead ED], there's a dozen waiting at Blacktown". Dr Anu Kataria. ( Four Corners: Mark Hiney ) "It was constant and pretty unrelenting. "[The messages were coming from] high up… I suspect that they had people telling them what to do. "When I was a very junior consultant, a senior consultant once asked me, 'Anu, what do you think your role in this hospital is?' "He said, 'your job is to keep the minister for health out of the newspaper, you will never do anything to embarrass the minister'. "Jam-packed emergency departments are an embarrassment to the government, nobody wants to see a jam-packed ED. "Therefore, the pressure flows all the way down. "It feels pretty terrible, it feels that I'm failing to do what I want to do. "My patients are a lot unhappier, the pressure on me to not treat them fully is infinitely higher, the expectation from senior administration, from the executives, is that I just get people out as soon as I can. "The people that we look after, especially in the public health system, are essentially voiceless. "We know we can have much better outcomes. "We are limited by the system in which we work, and that's hurtful, that's injurious, that's painful." Many patients and their loved ones have told Four Corners being discharged early has made their mental illness worse, resulting in a cycle of quick deterioration and re-admission. Warning: The following sections contain references to self-harm and suicide. A loaded nail gun in public The problems are also endemic at Sydney's largest hospital, the Royal Prince Alfred (RPA). Over her decade at the hospital, Dr Suzy Goodison saw overloaded staff struggling to keep up with the increasing volume and complexity of patients. She recalled a patient from January, a young man with schizophrenia who had been missing for six months after being released from jail. Psychiatrist Dr Suzy Goodison. ( Four Corners: Mark Hiney ) "He came into RPA, to the emergency department and he had shot nails actually into his knees because the voices were telling him to do that. He was admitted to the orthopaedic ward. "He was a significant risk of harm to himself and to others. "I immediately flagged that this man needed … a bed in an acute mental health unit and that I was very concerned about him being in the general hospital… "I then went off on a weekend… When I called on the Monday, he'd absconded from the hospital ward, and no one knew where he was. "He had no fixed address and I don't know what happened to him." Four Corners: "Could he still be out there in the community in that current state?" Dr Goodison: "Yes. He was walking around with a loaded nail gun in public. "It is another Bondi Junction waiting to happen. "These are the risks that we carry when we work in this field and it becomes a moral injury when I can't deliver that care to keep either individuals safe or the community safe. "It's pretty awful and demoralising and I think it wears you down and it felt hopeless at times. "There were times when I thought, 'What am I actually doing for this patient?'." Mental health admissions to RPA Hospital in the last quarter of 2024 were 54 per cent higher than the same time the year before. The increase has been partly blamed on a breakdown of community mental health services. After dealing with the hospital system, patients are supposed to be assigned to a mental health team in the community staffed with psychologists, social workers, nurses and ideally, psychiatrists. Four Corners has been told a Sydney Local Health District community crisis team meant for the most severe patients, is down eight staff. There's now only one part-time psychiatrist for around 130 patients. 'The bit I struggle with most' Another concerning problem in the NSW mental health system is how it struggles to care for vulnerable children. Child and adolescent psychiatrist Dr James Lawler. ( Four Corners: Mark Hiney ) Child and adolescent psychiatrist Dr James Lawler said more young people than ever before were presenting to emergency departments. "[I had] triple the normal workload. It was the job of three psychiatrists that I was doing in one. "It's kind of scary actually." With limited beds and pressure to keep ED wait times down, he was forced to make tough decisions. "The hard one is being on call, you get a lot of kids presenting to the emergency department and being told by your colleagues, 'here's the presentation, this person's tried to end their life or has hurt themselves really badly' … and making a decision to discharge and just hoping for the best. "I think that's the bit I struggle with most, doing that in the middle of the night and hoping that the family and child end up okay. "I've realised over the course of last year that the work I was doing was just becoming so constrained and I was having to give that advice so quickly to parents that I was walking away from sessions realising that they didn't really trust what I'd said was genuine and they probably weren't going to listen. "And I don't know that there's much point that I keep working in an environment like that because I'm not really helping people. "So you're sort of left with the option of either just continuing to provide care that you don't think is at a good standard or trying to speak up and change the system." NSW Health is scrambling to recruit child and adolescent psychiatrists. ( Four Corners: Nick Wiggins ) Four Corners has uncovered critical shortages of beds in child and adolescent units across NSW — there aren't enough psychiatrists to staff them. In Campbelltown's adolescent unit, eight new beds built over a year ago have never been opened. The hospital told Four Corners it has enough beds to meet the community's needs. In Campbelltown's adolescent unit, eight new beds built over a year ago have never been opened. The hospital told Four Corners it has enough beds to meet the community's needs. In Concord Hospital's Walker Unit, just over half of its 11 beds are available. In Concord Hospital's Walker Unit, just over half of its 11 beds are available. In the regional city of Orange, the adolescent unit was forced to close for a period when its only psychiatrist went on leave. NSW Health is scrambling to recruit child and adolescent psychiatrists on lucrative, short-term contracts in a bid to plug critical workforce gaps. One job advertisement for a child and adolescent role in the Nepean Blue Mountains district seen by Four Corners says: "We urgently need to fill this position as we could risk closing the Inpatient Unit." Resignations For years, NSW Health has struggled to hire psychiatrists, prompting the profession's peak body to enter 15 months of negotiations with the state government in search of a solution. The doctors' union, the Australian Salaried Medical Officers Federation, pushed for a 25 per cent pay increase for the state's psychiatrists saying they are the lowest paid in the country and need incentives for retention and recruitment. "That's not something the government is able to agree to," NSW Mental Health Minister Rose Jackson said in January. "We have to think about the broad, not just mental health system, but overall state budget. NSW Health said it is investing more than $2.9 billion into mental health services. ( Four Corners: Nick Wiggins ) "We have put our own proposition on the table and my view is that it's really reasonable … it's 10.5 per cent over the next three years." With no movement, 206 psychiatrists — including Dr Kataria, Dr Goodison and Dr Lawler — announced they would resign, saying they could no longer work in a system that was failing to treat people. Deadlocked with psychiatrists, the NSW Government referred their pay request to the Industrial Relations Commission, the state's workplace disputes referee. Sixty-two psychiatrists have gone through with their resignations, others are waiting for the commission's decision, expected in early June. It's only one part of a much larger crisis. NSW Health said it's investing more than $2.9 billion into mental health services, including funding for community support. "The NSW Government recognises… the system is in need of improvement and reform — both in terms of supporting our specialist mental healthcare workforce and the broader delivery of mental health care to the community," a spokesman said. "A patient will not be discharged if it is not clinically appropriate… we will never turn people away." "We want to make it very clear — if anyone is in need of mental health treatment they should reach out for help, our system is designed to provide it, and has continued to, throughout this process."
News.com.au
3 days ago
- General
- News.com.au
Toddler dead after allegedly being hit by car in driveway of southwest Sydney home
A toddler has died after she was allegedly hit by a car in the driveway of a home in Sydney's southwest. The 18-month-old girl was allegedly struck in the driveway of a Villawood home on Saturday afternoon, with emergency services called to the scene at Culgoa Bend about 12pm. Officers were told the young girl was allegedly struck by a car driven by a 28-year-old woman. Paramedics treated the toddler at the scene before she was rushed The Children's Hospital at Westmead in a critical condition. However, the child died. The driver was taken to Westmead Hospital for mandatory testing, and a crime scene is set to be investigated by the Crash Investigation Unit.
Perth Now
4 days ago
- Perth Now
Obsessed triple murderer's shocking lies
WARNING: Confronting content A taekwondo instructor who confessed to a shocking triple murder in western Sydney had an obsession with luxury items and told grandiose lies in the lead-up to the killing of a couple and a seven-year-old boy, according to court documents. Kwang Kyung Yoo, 51, on Thursday pleaded guilty to murdering Min Cho, 41, and a seven-year-old child at his North Parramatta taekwondo studio as well as Ms Cho's husband, Steven Cho, 39, at his Baulkham Hills home on February 19 last year. A statement of agreed facts tendered to the Parramatta Local Court do not state Yoo's motivation for the horrific murders; however, they do reveal that in the lead-up he lied to his wife that he was being given a BMW as a work car and instead took Ms Cho's BMW X5 after killing her. Murderer Kwang Kyung Yoo. Supplied Credit: Supplied Yoo was obsessed with wealth. Facebook Credit: Supplied He was also obsessed with wealth and had told lies about his academic credentials and having competed at the Olympics. Yoo ran the Lion's Taekwondo and Martial Arts Academy at North Parramatta and was known to his students as 'Master Lion'. According to court documents, in January last year, he lied to his wife when he told her that a primary school – where he had a part-time job – was giving him a BMW as a work car. In the 11 days leading up to the horrific murders, Yoo was captured on CCTV driving into the complex where the Yoo family lived in his grey Toyota Camry on five occasions The court was told that about 6.22pm on February 19, after the other parents and students had left his taekwondo studio, Yoo strangled Ms Cho in a storeroom before dragging her body into the office. Later that evening he was captured on CCTV taking Ms Cho's car keys before he later called his wife to say his new BMW had arrived. Min and Steven Cho were murdered by Yoo. Supplied Credit: Supplied The couple were killed on February 19 last year. Credit: Supplied 'The car has arrived,' he told her during a brief phone call. He then killed the seven-year-old boy in the storeroom by strangling him. At 8.48pm he drove Ms Cho's BMW X5 away from the scene to her Baulkham Hills townhouse where he broke in. At 9.18pm, Mr Cho returned home where he was stabbed to death by Yoo with blows to the head, neck and chest. Mr Cho stabbed Yoo in self-defence but was killed in the altercation. Yoo returned to his studio and called his wife, saying: 'I've been stabbed with a knife.' He drove to Westmead Hospital where he was treated for a collapsed lung and multiple stab wounds. He claimed to police that he had been stabbed by three people in the carpark of a North Parramatta Woolworths; however, officers quickly established that was a lie after viewing CCTV footage. Police searched Ms Cho's BMW, which Yoo had driven to hospital, and found traces of blood inside. Mr Cho's body was discovered the next day when friends became concerned and went to the couple's home. Police then went to the Lion's Taekwondo and Martial Arts Academy where they noticed blood on the front steps before the bodies of Ms Cho and the boy were found inside. 'During the investigation, police obtained evidence that suggested that the offender (Yoo) had interests in luxury items, social status and wealth,' the court documents state. Police found evidence of him inspecting properties and falsely telling agents that he was acting on behalf of his wealthy employer or his parents who had a budget of up to $50m. Lion's Taekwondo and Martial Arts Academy. NewsWire/Gaye Gerard. Credit: News Corp Australia The Baulkham Hills townhouse block where Mr Cho was murdered. NewsWire / Gaye Gerard Credit: News Corp Australia He showed the mother of one of his students a picture that he falsely claimed was taken from his home with Harbour Bridge views. He had further lied about owning property in Sydney's eastern suburbs and luxury cars and that he holidayed in New York and California. He also bizarrely told his wife that he was receiving emails from a wealthy woman in a high position, according to the court documents. Yoo also told people, including his wife and sister, that he had a master's degree and PHD from Macquarie University and Sydney University; however, both institutions had no record of him. He was also found to have lied about competing in taekwondo at the 2000 Olympics. Yoo will appear in the Supreme Court on April 1.
West Australian
5 days ago
- West Australian
Taekwondo instructor admits to shocking triple murder
A taekwondo instructor has admitted to a shocking triple murder in Sydney's west in which he killed a couple and a seven-year-old child. Kwang Kyung Yoo on Thursday pleaded guilty to three counts of murder when he appeared in the Parramatta Local Court. He admitted to murdering Min Cho, 41, and a seven-year-old child at a North Parramatta taekwondo studio, as well as Ms Cho's husband, Steven Cho, 39, at a Baulkham Hills home on February 19 last year. The North Kellyville man has been in custody since he was arrested in hospital and will now face sentencing proceedings in the NSW Supreme Court. Ms Cho and the child were killed inside the taekwondo studio where the boy was a student. Yoo, who was known to his students as Master Lion, left the bodies inside the studio before driving Ms Cho's white BMW to her Baulkham Hills home, where Mr Cho was stabbed several times. NSW Police found Mr Cho's body at the Watkins Rd, Baulkham Hills address before the bodies of his wife and the child were discovered by police two hours later. Yoo drove to Westmead Hospital with stab wounds to his chest, arms and stomach and claimed he was randomly attacked in a Woolworths carpark. However he sustained the injuries while stabbing Mr Cho to death. He will now appear in the Supreme Court in August before he is sentenced at a later date.
News.com.au
18-05-2025
- Health
- News.com.au
Teenager hospitalised after falling off e-bike in Cranebrook, Sydney
A teenager has been flown to hospital after suffering head injuries following an accident on an e-bike in a major city. A teenager has suffered head injuries following an e-bike accident in Greater Western Sydney. Paramedics were called to Cranebrook after reports a teenager had fallen off an e-bike on Saturday about noon. A CareFlight helicopter was called to transport the teenager, who sustained head injuries as a result of the fall. A specialist doctor and paramedics provided critical care to the teenager at the scene before he was flown to Westmead Hospital. The teenager remains in a stable condition.
