A nurse working at Victoria’s only mental health hospital for prisoners was allegedly raped by a patient earlier this week when staffing numbers on her unit were half what they were meant to be.
Police are investigating the alleged incident, which is said to have happened at Thomas Embling Hospital during the early hours of Monday.
Shelley Turner, the health service’s executive director of hospital operations, said in a staff email on Wednesday that a thorough review was being undertaken to understand what had occurred and to determine whether further measures were needed to strengthen staff safety.
“I recognise that this has been a difficult and distressing time, particularly for those directly affected and the staff and consumers who responded to or witnessed the incident,” she wrote.
The incident has left staff distraught and raised concerns about staffing levels and safety at the psychiatric prison hospital.
It coincides with revelations in this masthead that violence in the state’s public hospitals has surged by more than 60 per cent over the past four years, with a record 26,730 incidents logged last year including healthcare workers being bitten, punched and having their bones broken.
Two days after the alleged sexual assault of the mental health nurse, the government pledged it would spend $102 million introducing mental health nurse-to-patient ratios. The timing of this announcement had been set some time before the alleged incident.
“We are distraught, angry and devastated for our colleague,” one Thomas Embling Hospital insider said.
“Her whole life will change. No one goes to work thinking that they are going to get raped… This is too much.”
Staff alleged that the nurse was attacked by a sex offender with a history of sexual assaults.
Two hospital insiders said two of the four nurses who were rostered to work in the unit had left just before the alleged incident occurred.
One staff member had gone on their break, and the other had gone to another unit to assist with a review of patients in seclusion.
They believe the alleged offender was aware of this, and timed his attack accordingly.
An insider said the hospital had no system for scheduling night shift breaks to ensure adequate staffing levels across the hospital.
An internal email, sent to staff on Thursday from a hospital manager and leaked to this masthead, appears to confirm this. It states that a “formal process for coordinating night shift breaks would be established in the coming weeks”. It details new interim arrangements, including that breaks should not be taken during seclusion reviews.
Health and Community Services Union state secretary Paul Healey said he was aware of the alleged sexual assault and staff had been left traumatised.
He said the union was supporting staff at the Fairfield facility and he had been told counselling was being provided.
“All I can say is this is not an isolated incident,” Healey said. “There are incidents happening in hospitals across the state and have a devastating effect on staff.
“The hospital and the government need to start taking staff safety seriously. They’ve got to do more and it’s got to be dealt with. They’re not taking safety seriously enough.”
Healey said the hospital had been grappling with staffing issues for some time, including severe shortages of nurses and difficulty retaining experienced healthcare workers due to the challenging conditions inside the facility.
“The acuity of the people there is much higher than ever before,” he said. “The security response at the hospital is not what we believe it should be. We’ve got to do our absolute most to keep people safe.”
He said the government’s pledge to introduce mental health nurse-to-patient ratios was welcome, but it did not go far enough.
A Thomas Embling Hospital spokeswoman said it was working closely with relevant authorities and providing police with all necessary assistance to support their investigation.
“Our primary concern is for the people involved and supporting their welfare, safety and wellbeing,” she said.
“Out of respect for the privacy and wellbeing of those involved, we will not comment further while the police investigation is underway.”
Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation state secretary Maddy Harradence said the union was aware of a serious incident that occurred at Thomas Embling Hospital earlier this week.
“ANMF’s focus is on supporting our members and ensuring they have access to the appropriate supports at this difficult time,” she said.
“We remain committed to working collaboratively with Forensicare to strengthen the safety and wellbeing of our members now and into the future.”
Last year, it was revealed that the mental health hospital for prisoners was slashing key specialist roles for some of the state’s highest-risk psychiatric patients.
WorkSafe confirmed it is also investigating the incident.
Victoria Police have been contacted for further comment.
Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732) or Lifeline (13 11 14).
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