Mental health in 'total disarray’
The father of a budding professional golfer who died the day after he was discharged from a WA psychiatric clinic has lashed the State’s mental health system as in “total disarray”.
Ian Edwards testified yesterday at the inquest of his 26-year-old son Anthony, an involuntary patient at Fremantle’s Alma Street clinic for a week before he died on March 20, 2012.
Anthony Edwards’ mother Catherine said she was shocked to learn her son had been discharged the morning after she spoke to him by telephone in the secure psychiatric ward. “He was not ready to be released because he was so unwell,” she told the court.
Mrs Edwards said the clinic did not notify the family of her son’s discharge, but he called them himself.
“We didn’t really have enough time to figure out what to do because he killed himself the next day,” she said.
Mr Edwards is one of five Alma Street clinic patients whose deaths between March 2011 and 2012 are being investigated by coroner Ros Fogliani.
At 14 years old, he played golf for the WA State squad and was one of Australia’s leading junior golfers.
His mental health problems began about age 16 and he was detained involuntarily at numerous psychiatric hospitals in Perth.
Mr Edwards said his son was “terrified” of being admitted to hospital and the presence of security guards was “like being surrounded by stormtroopers”.
“This guy is unwell, clearly agitated. You’ve got all these bright lights and people around him. That’s why he hated it,” he said.
Anthony Edwards was prescribed several different anti-psychotic drugs after his diagnosis of schizophrenia.
His parents said they were not made aware of medication changes and given no advice on how to manage the potentially serious side effects.
Mrs Edwards said the Alma Street clinic was “not a nice place to be” and psychiatric facilities should be comfortable for patients.
Dr Paul Babich told the court he questioned the clinic’s diagnosis of schizophrenia for Mr Edwards, the impact of anti-psychotic medication side effects on him and raised his concerns with the clinic.
“I just had the feeling that anxiety was a major factor in his presentation to me,” he said.
Dr Stefanie Strunk assessed Mr Edwards on what would be his last admission to the clinic before he died and said he was “clearly psychotic”.
Dr Pankaj Kataria, the consultant registrar for Mr Edwards’ care, said he was discharged from the locked ward, rather than put in the open ward because he wanted to go home and would have left anyway.
“The basic thing we have to assess is the risk,” he said. “Is this person safe to go home?
“Then we look at the person’s preference.”
