Mentally unwell jam hospitals

Senior doctors say the State's mental health system is in crisis, with troubled patients swamping emergency departments.

Emergency physician and past Australian Medical Association president Dave Mountain said mental health patients were being cared for in an unsuitable environment he dubbed the "circle of hell".

He blamed a lack of community-based specialist care for patients increasingly going to emergency departments seriously unwell and agitated, putting themselves and others at risk of harm.

Dr Mountain said mentally ill patients were now the biggest single users of beds and cubicles in emergency departments.

"These people should be getting support in the community but they can't get care so instead their condition escalates and they end up in EDs, acutely unwell and needing a bed that often can't be found," he said.

"It's a toxic environment for them because EDs have all the things they don't need, like lots of noise and excitement, poor privacy and little chance of being able to get some sleep.

"The longer they stay, the longer they stay in hospital because they often end up arcing up and being sedated."

AMA WA president Richard Choong said there was still denial about under-resourced mental health services.

"We're in a crisis but it's a hidden problem where people suffer at homes and when they get too bad they suffer in hospitals while waiting for care," he said.

Dr Choong said that mental health presentations rose 25 per cent in the past six years and GPs were seeing more patients with nowhere to get specialist treatment.

Mental Health Minister Helen Morton said the State Government was making a record $734 million investment in mental health this financial year.

She said the money would include funding for more sub-acute step-up, step-down services and home support.