Page 2854 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 17 September 2014
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AMHU in July of this year. This is not a small thing, and it indicates the seriousness of the concerns and complaints of the staff who do not feel safe in their workplace. They are being attacked and hurt while providing care and they need more support to reduce these types of incidents. It is in everyone’s best interests, consumers and staff alike, that the adult mental health unit is a place of therapy, quiet and healing, not a place of tension, undue stress and violence.
This is a serious matter, as I know that the nurses who go to work in that place every day are committed to and passionate about the work they do. You have to be to do that kind of job, and I have nothing but respect for their ongoing professionalism in responding to the more serious manifestations of poor mental health. It must be a demanding and yet highly rewarding career path, and we must acknowledge their legitimate concerns, for we cannot possibly care for those who need it without them.
I understand that the Chief Minister and her directorate are taking these concerns seriously, through a range of actions that, while they might not be as immediate as some would like, are in fact in train. I do not know whether Mrs Jones has sought a briefing on these matters, but there are a few things going on that the Chief Minister has outlined and that I think are worth repeating.
It is my understanding that while the post-occupancy review on the adult mental health unit may be slightly delayed, it is in train, and I am also advised that staff will be provided with any action plan that may be produced, in line with the adult mental health unit model of care that was developed in 2012. It is essential that staff are kept informed of this work, are part of that work and are respected for their input and views on any outcomes of that work. We cannot ignore the reasons that the PIN was issued, just as we cannot ignore the work that ACT Health have undertaken to date to address these problems. Extra staff have been rostered on, and more work is happening behind the scenes.
We in this place can only speculate as to the increased levels of violence against nursing staff. The Canberra Times today talks of increased rates of methamphetamine use, and the horror that that is causing both the users and their loved ones. We can look at other social trends, increased incidents of mental health and others, but we have no real right to assume or even make educated guesses.
What we can and should do is support the staff, trust that their concerns are valid and do everything we can as an employer to provide a safe workplace. We have seen the attention given to industrial workplace injuries in the ACT, and we must provide that same level of basic safety to all in our community, to make sure that we have a similar level of concern right across the workplaces that we are responsible for here in the territory.
As the amendment notes, the secure mental health unit, a parliamentary agreement item and a personal priority of the health minister, is being progressed. The secure mental health unit will undoubtedly provide some relief for both the adult mental health unit and the AMC but it will not reduce the need to provide a full suite of programs and places of care, and it will not in any way reprioritise the need to ensure a safe workplace for the doctors, nurses and other staff.
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