NSW Government Must Rule Out Involuntary Patients in Private Hospitals
The NSW Government must immediately rule out declaring private hospitals as mental health facilities for involuntary patients under the Mental Health Act.
In the fallout of the resignation of two‑thirds of staff specialist psychiatrists at NSW Health, the Government is not only moving public psychiatric patients into private hospitals but also actively considering whether involuntary patients—those detained under the Mental Health Act 2007 (NSW)—can also be admitted to private hospitals.
Involuntary psychiatric treatment must always be through the least restrictive means possible under the Act, and the possibility of a profit motive influencing the assessment of people experiencing mental illness is a significant risk to human rights.
Minister for Mental Health Rose Jackson this week confirmed contingency plans include shifting public patients to private hospitals. Alarmingly, she could not respond whether private hospitals would be declared for involuntary admissions. NSW Health’s Secretary has confirmed on several occasions this is under consideration.
Quotes attributable to Dr Amanda Cohn, Greens spokesperson for Health including Mental Health and former GP:
“Involuntary patients being treated in private, for-profit settings is a fundamental human rights concern and the Minister for Mental Health should rule it out.
“The prospect of for-profit involuntary psychiatric treatment has rightly alarmed people with lived experience of mental illness and their loved ones.
“For-profit involuntary care is counter to the principles of the Mental Health Act, under which care must be delivered through the least restrictive means necessary.
“So far, the NSW government has responded to the mass resignation of psychiatrists by plugging gaps with expensive, inefficient temporary staff, and now it wants to put the most vulnerable patients in private hospitals not equipped to support them.
“The latest modelling shows NSW Health could save $35m a year and improve patient care by giving psychiatrists a 25% pay rise compared with what it is now spending on contractors to fill vacancies.
"Instead of patching over the crisis with privatisation and dangerous imposition on other health professionals, the NSW government must invest in a properly staffed, well-funded public mental health system."
Dr Cohn’s recent record on this issue in the NSW Parliament:
Take Note Debate 11 February 2025
Question to the Government 11 February 2025
Take Note Debate 22 October 2024
Question to the Government 22 October 2024
Responding to government’s plan to plug workforce gaps with locum staff
Media contact: Josh Appleton [email protected] 02 9230 2566