One in eight refugees on Nauru were admitted to the island’s immigration detention medical centre, predominantly for mental health reasons, in a single three-month period at the beginning of 2019.

The high admission rate was revealed in a government report, obtained by BuzzFeed News, that documents the first weeks of operation of the so-called “medevac law”, aimed at making it easier for sick refugees and asylum seekers and their family members to secure medical transfers to Australia.

Despite claims that the law — passed against the government’s wishes in February — would allow rapists, pedophiles and murderers to come to Australia, home affairs minister Peter Dutton did not object to any of the first batch of transfers under the law.

The report is the first from the Independent Health Advice Panel (IHAP), which was set up under the medevac law to review cases in which Dutton objected to a transfer on medical grounds.

It states that in the first three months of 2019, 43 detainees were admitted to Nauru’s Regional Processing Centre Medical Centre (RPCMC), for stays between one and 44 days.

The majority of admissions were for mental health treatment and some of the 43 were admitted more than once, with 73 admissions in total.

In the same period, 237 people had 5,908 consultations at Nauru’s RPCMC, according to the document. Another 2,352 consultations were provided at the International Health and Medical Services (IHMS) Nauru Settlement Medical Centre, at the Republic of Nauru Hospital.

There were 359 detainees in total on Nauru at the end of March. Psychological reasons were the most common explanation for the consultations.

Dr Nick Martin, who previously worked on Nauru as a senior medical officer with IHMS, told BuzzFeed News the admission rate was “unbelievably high”.

“Just to look at the 73 admissions, 43 individuals. Even if it was just 43 out of [the 237 who attended consultations], that’s incredible,” he said. “That just shows the devastation that is being wrought there. The longer they’re there, the more hopeless they get.

“It’s not just that they’re a bit depressed or a bit anxious … it’s a life-threatening mental health situation requiring admission.”

He also said it may be the case that the 5,908 consultations at the RPCMC were not necessarily instances of a refugee sitting down with a doctor, but could include things like a nurse briefly visiting an inpatient’s room and marking their medical record, which may happen several times a day.

“If the figure is correct, it shows it’s an insane number and an incredible burden [on people's mental health],” Martin said.

The home affairs department did not respond to a request to clarify what constituted a consultation before publishing this story.

Advocates have repeatedly warned — and IHMS has noted — that the environment of Nauru and indefinite detention itself is a contributor to poor mental health.

The report also reveals that in March, the first month the law was operating, nine people were transferred to Australia under the new process — all of them family members accompanying patients from Nauru. The government did not object to any of the transfers.

Another 16 people were transferred under pre-existing powers — five from Papua New Guinea and 11 from Nauru.

In late June the Sydney Morning Herald reported that 31 people had been transferred under medevac law, with the government objecting to nine transfers. In all but two cases, the IHAP upheld the government’s decision.

The government has pledged to repeal the medevac law and disband the IHAP, but will have to wait until a Senate inquiry into the law concludes in October. The government had previously warned the law would cause an immediate “flood” of about 300 transfers.