Latest news with #mentalhealthcrisis
ABC News
a day ago
- Business
- ABC News
NSW government defends 'broken' mental health system using misleading figure
"I actually wasn't surprised." That was NSW mental health minister Rose Jackson's response to our Four Corners story exposing the state of the system she oversees. We uncovered that people are waiting up to four days for critical mental health treatment in one of the country's busiest emergency departments. Doctors revealed they feel pressured by higher ups to discharge patients too soon. And most devastatingly, we heard from the families of people who've lost loved ones after being turned away from care. "I'm familiar with a lot of those issues, they are things that are across my desk regularly," the minister told 2GB radio on Tuesday morning, after declining Four Corners' repeated requests for an interview. As journalists, we were stunned by these revelations. But if the minister has heard all of this before — including that young people are dying after being sent home without treatment — it raises a disturbing question: why is the NSW government still refusing to offer meaningful solutions to fixing the mental health care system? Instead, it's been relying on misleading figures to defend the status quo. Everyone agrees there's a major shortage of psychiatrists in NSW. Our story found it's led to the closure of several mental health wards and beds, including child and adolescent units. That means people are unable to access timely and urgent care. To help solve the workforce shortage, psychiatrists have been pushing for a 25 per cent pay rise to retain staff in the state who are leaving for better offers elsewhere. Even with that increase, first year psychiatrists in NSW would still be among the lowest paid in the country. Minister Jackson on Tuesday told the media the pay rise would cost $700 million. "When you increase the pay of an already relatively well-paid doctor by 25 per cent in one year, and there are obviously hundreds and hundreds of those doctors, the cost is significant," she told ABC Radio Sydney on Tuesday. Yet, NSW Health's own figures, tendered to the Industrial Relations Commission, show the increase would cost an extra $30 million per year, a stark difference to the $700 million figure the minister is repeatedly quoting. When asked in parliament on Tuesday why there's such a big disparity in the numbers, the minister gave an incomprehensible response: "I'm aware of the suggestion that there is a misalignment, but my response to that is that it is not comparing the same cost, it is not an apples to apples comparison and that explains the difference." In response to us, the minister's office said the $700 million "represents the total projected costs into the future, including the full suite of conditions and entitlements sought by the psychiatrist staff specialists". But the government would not provide a breakdown of what those costs cover or how many years the costs are spread, so it's still hard to know how its reached this conclusion. The NSW government has a track record of massaging the numbers to win a publicity war against psychiatrists, scores of whom resigned in January protesting dire conditions in the mental health system. The NSW Premier Chris Minns has consistently said a 25 per cent increase would equate to an extra $90,000 for one doctor for one year. In reality, only the most senior, full-time psychiatrists would receive that amount. Around half the workforce is at the senior level, and the average psychiatrist is not employed full-time. The NSW government has referred the pay question to the workplace disputes referee, the Industrial Relations Commission, promising to honour its decision while reiterating it has overall budget concerns in the state. The pay dispute is only one small part of a much larger crisis in the mental health care system. It's the government's job to question if a pay rise is the best way forward, but aside from a lower counteroffer and statements with tricky mathematics, it has failed to provide any new alternative to fix the sector. On Tuesday, Minister Jackson acknowledged it was unacceptable that people are waiting days for urgent care in emergency departments, and promoted Safe Havens, as an alternative to hospital. Part of the government's Towards Zero Suicides initiative, the Safe Havens are walk-in centres for people experiencing suicidal thoughts or in need of therapeutic support, and there are 21 across NSW. The centres were praised by one person we spoke to, 20-year-old Carly Richardson, but she said they're not set up for her complex needs. And she has to travel for more than an hour on public transport to get there. 'The Safe Haven's great. It's definitely not a place that fixes me, but it kind of [tides] me over a bit when I'm really not okay. I think we need more services that offer that step-up, step-down approach." Medical professionals say strategies like this do not adequately address the major shortfall in services for people with life-threatening mental health conditions. Many we spoke to in the system said what needs to be urgently fixed is community mental health care — teams of health professionals who aim to keep people out of hospital. We found some of the teams are severely understaffed with unmanageable workloads — in a crisis team in the Sydney Local Health District, for example, there's one part time psychiatrist for around 130 patients. The minister has admitted that more funding is needed in community care but said it will take years to deliver despite saying she's known about these problems for a long time. The government's own data from the end of 2023 shows almost 60,000 people with severe mental illness likely aren't get the community care they need. "It's about how we spend that money and doing that in a thoughtful way that doesn't just keep delivering more ambulances at the bottom of a cliff but actually investing in community base care to desert people from and those kind of game changing investments and realigning the system, they take some time," the minister told ABC Radio Sydney on Tuesday. Hearing the response from the NSW government, it's clear there's a massive disconnect between what the health department says it provides, and what people experience on the ground. For example, Minister Jackson said on Tuesday that if someone walked into a Sydney hospital, she could guarantee they would get the help they need. But we heard from doctors who said they had no choice but to turn people away from hospital because of a lack of resources, and from patients on the receiving end. The government continues to defend itself, reiterating that it's spending $2.9 billion on mental health services. But the state still has the lowest funding per capita in mental health care across the country, and Minister Jackson on Tuesday stopped short of committing to more resources. "We are now trying to deliver more money into the system. We have a budget coming up in a few weeks but it's not something that you can turn around in in one budget or in one year," she told ABC Radio Sydney. The problems in the system have been laid out and there's a growing chorus of voices demanding urgent action before more lives are lost. The government insists it knows its system is struggling — now it needs to decide how many more people must suffer before it acts.
ABC News
4 days ago
- General
- ABC News
Mental health services plague Australia's largest state
Four days - that's how long a mental health patient at one of the country's busiest emergency departments waited for treatment, according to figures seen by Four Corners. And doctors have revealed they felt pressured to discharge people in severe mental health crisis before they're ready.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Yahoo
Mustang officer cleared after killing a man holding gloves during mental health crisis
WARNING: The video in this story contains graphic material of an officer-involved shooting that may be upsetting to viewers. Discretion is advised. MUSTANG, Okla. (KFOR) — The Mustang Police Department says one of its own officers has been cleared by state investigators and the local district attorney's office after shooting and killing a man last year during a mental health crisis. The incident happened on August 22, 2024, just after 7:00 p.m. Mustang Police say officers responded to a call involving a man, Juan Barbosa, reportedly experiencing a mental health crisis. Police say they were told Barbosa had jumped out of a car and was behaving aggressively. Neighbors in Mustang shaken up after man killed in officer-involved shooting The first responding officer to the scene, Jazreale Wright, has been with the Mustang Police Department since January of 2023, according to Mustang Chief of Police Mike Wallace. Wright has been CLEET certified since November 2023, when she became a full-time police officer. Wallace says Wright previously worked as a certified private security guard in May 2021. Wallace shared new video from the call Friday, which shows Wright assessing the situation and interviewing a witness. She is seen at first trying to speak with Barbosa about what's going on, when a witness, identified as Barbosa's nephew by police, has to physically get between them. Wright is heard in her body camera video telling someone not to touch her, while another voice begs Barbosa to stop. She is then seen on her body camera and dash camera tasering Barbosa. He falls to the ground for less than a minute, and Wright gives him verbal commands to stay on the ground and put his hands behind his back. Barbosa doesn't comply with Wright's commands and gets up regardless. Wallace explained Friday that something was wrong with Wright's taser, which allowed the situation to escalate further before another officer could arrive. 'Only one of the two electrical probes impacted the subject, which prevented this from being an effective charge,' said Wallace. Barbosa is seen on video approaching Wright, holding something in his hand. Wright attempts to use her taser again on Barbosa, but it's not effective. She then proceeds to pull out her firearm. A News 4 employee questioned Wallace Friday about what Barbosa was holding. 'At the time, Officer Wright had no idea what that may have been, as a result of the investigation, it turned out to be some gloves,' said Wallace. Wright is seen discharging her weapon multiple times before Barbosa falls. Wallace says officers and emergency crews tried to keep him alive, but Barbosa died at the scene. Wallace says the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation was called in to take over the case. 'The results of the OSBI investigation were presented to the Canadian County District Attorney's Office following that review of the investigation,' said Wallace. 'No criminal charges were filed. The Mustang Police Department recognizes Officer Wright was confronted with the rapidly escalating situation in which she was required to make split-second decisions to protect both herself and the safety of those present. She was presented with an individual who behaved in a clearly aggressive manner, refused to obey her commands, and appeared intent on inflicting potentially lethal bodily injury.' Wallace said Wright's actions were reasonable under the circumstances and that she did not violate any of the department's policies, allowing her to return to work. He was asked about what he would say to Barbosa's family if they believed the shooting wasn't justified, but Wallace said he wouldn't speak to their thoughts. However, he did offer his condolences, which he made note of doing last year as well. Wallace was further pressed about when the investigation into Wright wrapped up and when she returned to work. He said the investigation wrapped up at the end of 2024, and Wright returned to work in 2024 as well. News 4 asked Wallace directly why the department waited so long to share both pieces of information with the general public. 'You know, it takes quite a while to go through the process to, to make sure that all the investigation is done properly and then to actually prepare these types of things, but we felt it important now to get the details of this out,' said Wallace. News 4 made multiple attempts Friday to speak with Barbosa's family. First, a News 4 employee asked if the family had been made aware of the news conference. Then, asked if the family would be willing to speak on Barbosa's behalf, since he wouldn't be able to defend any allegations himself. Barbosa's family declined. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Yahoo
MISSING: BCSO asking for help locating 70-year-old woman
BEAUFORT COUNTY, S.C. (WSAV) – The Beaufort County Sheriff's Office (BCSO) is asking for the public's help in locating missing and endangered 70-year-old Kathleen Hogan of Lady's Island. At 3:00 p.m. today, May 17, 2025, the Sheriff's Office Communications Center received a report of Hogan on the golf course at The Landing at Pleasant Point, in need of help, appearing to be experiencing a mental health crisis. Deputies responded and are currently searching the area of Bennett Point Drive on Lady's Island for Hogan. Our Bloodhound Tracking Team and our Drone Unit are on scene as well. Hogan was seen wearing a black shirt and black leggings. Anyone who may see Hogan is asked to call the Sheriff's Office non-emergency dispatch line at 843-524-2777. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Yahoo
Man shot during mental health check in Pelham
Authorities are investigating an overnight police-involved shooting that occurred when officers responded to a mental health crisis in Pelham. The shooting happened Friday night when Pelham police officers responded to a 911 call about an armed man in mental distress at a residence on Nashua Road, according to Attorney General John M. Formella. The man, whose name hasn't been released, was wounded in the incident. He was alert and communicative when transported to a medical facility, officials said. No officers were injured. Authorities are withholding the names of the officers involved until formal interviews are completed, following standard protocol. Officials say there is no ongoing threat to the public. The investigation is continuing, and more information will be released as it becomes available.
