More often than anywhere else in the country, mental health patients in Canberra report leaving a hospital admission worse off than they entered.

Key points: The Human Rights Commission is concerned mental health patients are being discharged before they are well, leading to unplanned readmissions

The Human Rights Commission is concerned mental health patients are being discharged before they are well, leading to unplanned readmissions Recent Productivity Commission data shows the clinical outcomes for mental health patients in Canberra are worse than any other state or territory

Recent Productivity Commission data shows the clinical outcomes for mental health patients in Canberra are worse than any other state or territory Internal emails indicate bed pressure influences decision-making on whether or not to discharge a patient



Milly Baker, 28, has been admitted to Canberra's crisis units on more than 20 occasions in the past seven years.

Nearly every time, she waited days on the general wards for a bed, and then another two or three days to see a psychiatrist.

"It doesn't sound like a lot of days, but when all you do is sit and wait for a psychiatrist, it feels like a very long time," she said.

When the ABC visited Milly to interview her, she was again on a ward at the Canberra Hospital waiting to be admitted to the Adult Mental Health Unit (AMHU).

Milly, pictured with her assistance dog Bella, says she wouldn't be in hospital now if staff had treated her better at her previous admission. ( ABC News: Jake Evans )

But Milly said if she had received proper care during her last admission, she wouldn't be there at all.

"I've had plenty of experiences where it didn't work, I just went home, I discharged myself," she said.

"If I had had good treatment over at [Calvary Hospital] when we last spoke, then I wouldn't be here today."

Human Rights Commission fears a 'revolving door'

Milly isn't alone in her experience.

One in 10 mental health patients discharged from hospital in Canberra leave significantly worse than they were admitted, and fewer than half report an improvement in their health, according to the most recent Productivity Commission report on government services.

The Human Rights Commission has become concerned a "revolving door" on Canberra's mental health wards is endangering patient health.

In her most recent annual report, Commissioner Jodie Griffiths-Cook said patients were being discharged before they were well enough.

"They are subsequently readmitted in a further deteriorated mental state," she wrote.

The number of patients moving in and out of the ward each month rose dramatically from 40 a month to more than 100 in the 12 months to February last year, internal hospital data shows.

Official Visitor Shannon Pickles, appointed by government to monitor the system, said it had remained at that inflated level.

"When on any given day they've got four, six, eight people needing to come into the unit, every day they have to try and find four, six, eight people that need to leave the unit, and they need to then try and find reasons," Mr Pickles said.

"It sometimes becomes a situation where they need to find reasons why someone could go, as opposed to saying 'yes, they're ready to go.'"

One email exchange between staff, seen by the ABC, indicated bed pressures did influence judgements on whether to discharge patients.

On February 11, 2019, the director of acute mental health services wrote asking whether there were any patients on the ward or in the emergency department who could be discharged to a community service to help manage capacity.

In response, the operational director wrote: "In the past we have expedited [community service] discharges for people who haven't completed the program but are ok to go home."

ACT Mental Health Minister Shane Rattenbury accepted the ward was at capacity, but said there had been recent progress, and that the ward had run at 85 per cent capacity since employing a "patient flow coordinator" late last year.

He said unplanned readmissions were also falling.

Frightening experiences are hindering patient recovery

But bed pressures aren't the only thing threatening patient health.

Milly said some admissions, like her very first, could be intimidating and discouraging.

"I was young and really shy ... they decided to admit me, and I had no idea what to expect, and all I could hear was this guy screaming at the top of his lungs," she said.

"It really put me off; this is not the place to get better."

"I have had plenty of times [since] where I've not wanted to go to AMHU, but, essentially, if I'm going to get help, this seems to be the place I have to get help from."

Mr Rattenbury acknowledged it was a particular difficulty Canberra faced.

"I've certainly heard people express concerns that they felt that people in the Adult Mental Health Unit were not like them," Mr Rattenbury said.

"The nature of Canberra is that we have a limited number of facilities, we have a small population, and those who are at the very acute end of the system do get concentrated into one place."

He said the Government had recently opened specialised long-stay beds at the University of Canberra Hospital, and a sub-acute facility at Woden to provide more options.

Mr Pickles agreed options had improved, but the patient mix at the AMHU continued to be a barrier to recovery.

"One poor lady might be really actively unwell and suicidal and quite depressed and need intensive support, but next to her, in that same unit, is a really unwell guy who's got drug-induced psychosis, coming down off ice and is potentially quite heightened and violent.

"Both those people need those supports from AMHU, but both those people make each other's recovery much more challenging."