Friends, Family & Carers Forum

[perseverer]

1. I would like it to be mandatory for mental health patients to be interviewed in the presence of a carer, at least for part of the interview.

2.  There needs to be a dramatic increase in psychiatrists. Every regional centre should have a psychiatrist.

3. Every public hospital should have at least one resident psychiatrist.

4.  There needs to be a special benefit available to carers who are caring for several people with a disability or who need to give up work to be able to do so, and it needs to be about 10 times as much as the current carer's payment.

5.  Police need to do an inservice annualy on Mental Health issues as they affect families. Particular emphasis needs to go on how to assist families in which someone has gone missing.

6.  Psychiatrists also need to do inservices on how Mental Illness affects the whole family and in particular, where most or all of the family has MI issues.

7.  CAT teams should be replaced with a regional service in which every major town has a psychiatrist, a psychiatric nurse and a social worker who visit you in the home during a crisis.

8.  The number of beds for psychiatric patients in public hospitals needs to dramatically increase. A large weight of emphasis for decision making about hospitalization should be with the carer.

9. The government needs to employ service personnel who will pose as visitors but are secretly observing the staff on psyche wards to check on their bedside manner and level of care.

10. There need to be separate areas in psychiatric wards for patients who are not violent, loud or angry and need to be in a place of quietude.

[Former-Member]

11. Separate wards or areas for men and women

12. Another topic for in service training: communication with carers.

[perseverer]

Thanks, @Former-Member. Agreed!

[Shaz51]

Yes @Former-Member I totally agree xx

Hello @perseverer, when you live in rural areas, it is sooo much harder

[perseverer]

Hello @Shaz51, yes, I agree. That is why I want to see a de-centralised mental health service. My local hospital is currently undergoing massive infrastructure improvements, none of which will be in the psyche ward. VERY frustrating but I have let my voice be heard about what I want to see happen to the governing board of directors.

[bina]

I agree there should be more communication with the carers they must feel more comfortable and at ease. 

[Shaz51]

Hello @bina, hi and welcome to the forum

1) yes there should be more communication with the carers they must feel more comfortable and at ease.-- I agree @bina, @perseverer, @Former-Member

2)  and also I have wished I have asked the right question earlier to help myself and my husband who has MI

3) and more communication with carers whoes love ones are in hospital -- I didn`t get any help like places to stay near the hospital ??

[perseverer]

Hello @Shaz51, and thank you for your comment. It is so important for carers to be able to be near their loved ones in hospital, you raise a valid point. Patients do not recover in isolation from their loved ones but rather, with their support and continuing assistance. Carers should be an integral part of the recovery programme and accommodation is needed near the hospital for that reason.

[Shaz51]

Very true @perseverer

when my husband took himself to the local hospital , they took him up to the big hospital 60 km away , didn`t know where he was

My step daughter rang around to try to find where he was , when we went up and found him

i knew he wanted me to be there near him , so the next day at home I packed our bags ( did not know how long we would be there )

the first night i stayed in a hotel  which was $$$$

the next day I found there was a red cross accodation which was across the road from the hospital so i was able to move there

I was buying my meals until my Sister in law  brought me some meals she had made so I could put them in the visitors kitchen and heat them up for dinnertime

then with the specialists and doctors we had meetings with all the time

so It would be good if all carers have an idea what is going to happen

[Eva]

This list, plus additions from other contributors is very important. I can't add to the list but add a hope that the person monitoring this thread forwards these requirements to NSW Mental Health Commission or other bodies seeking to improve how care is provided.

Between 2014-2016, I unsuccessfully contacted the commission to ask for processes to be changed so a family member/close friend be included periodically in patient reviews, with of course some exceptions relating to the safety of the patient, and that staff follow current NSW Health requirements for the safe care of patients - both for admitted patients and in community based follow-up.

In my case, there has been 15 years of what I believe to be unnecessary distress for a whole family – including elder abuse issues, when a family member was not supported to speak up about highly disturbing internal thoughts and voices, choosing to rather present as angry and abusive rather than the shame and horror they felt from what was really happening. Family was not listened to because the person held it together when seen by both public and public practitioners. It is too late for us, but maybe others can have their distress minimised. Staff in hospitals are guided by standards to observe and support anyone who is admitted with any illness – some staff in some mental health units do not provide the right level of care. Many managers try hard to prevent bad staff behaviour and this is to be applauded. Some patients I know act badly, but I have also seen and heard staff provoked or neglect patients, often in during afternoons, nights or weekends when managers are not around resulting in deterioration of condition. It is a bit rare (in my limited experience as a visitor) to see seen patients behaving badly without being provoked or neglected. People struggling with symptoms of mental health issues that require hospitalising need observation and support - much in the same way that a person with a heart attack needs to be monitored. Without observation and early identification of changes with the right review by the right person when in hospital and back home, both types of patients will become sicker. This list of wishes would help people have better care both in hospital and when at home.

So my wish is that the 10 things are not a wish but a reality by the end of 2017.