In New South Wales, about 200 psychiatrists are set to resign this week over a long-running pay dispute with the state government. This comes at a time when many patients are already struggling to get the care they desperately need. A warning: this story references a suicide attempt.
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00:00Back home after being let down by the public hospital system.
00:09Gordon Stewart lives with diabetes, a heart condition and has bad knees, but this is where
00:15he spent his first two nights after attempting to take his own life.
00:19With no buzzer, no monitors, it was quite distressing to find my 72 year old father
00:24laying on the floor.
00:25Gordon had to wait two days for a bed in the mental health unit.
00:29They placed him in a room at the end of the ward that had no mobility assistance.
00:34They then realised that it was a mistake after watching him try and get up off the wheelchair.
00:38Gordon's family says he saw a psychiatrist on day three, but after several days without
00:43any follow up, they decided to bring him home.
00:46It's heartbreaking that our patients are having to say their stories again, that they're not
00:52getting the best care available.
00:55Dr Catherine Drew is one of the 203 psychiatrists set to quit the public system this Tuesday
01:01over a pay dispute.
01:02She says there's too much reliance on locum doctors.
01:06Patients are not receiving the care that we believe would be appropriate and acceptable
01:13for people with severe mental illness.
01:16In New South Wales, about 30% of psychiatrist positions are vacant.
01:20The state government has offered a 10.5% pay increase over the next three years, but
01:26the union is demanding a 25% increase over just one year.
01:32While negotiations continue, the Stuarts are leaving the public system for a private hospital.
01:37I can't imagine someone that's 72 year old, that has no family support whatsoever going
01:42into a place like that.
01:43They'd be left there to rot.
01:44The local health district says Gordon received comprehensive care in the mental health unit,
01:49but it's apologised to the Stuarts for the distress caused in the emergency department.