Locked door policies not helping patient care
In late 2013, Queensland introduced ‘locked door policies’ into its adult acute mental health wards, in response to community concerns about patients who abscond, or leave the facility.
While the Queensland policy dominates the discourse, other states are guilty of the policy but they do not admit it. That’s according to Jon Wardle, a Chancellor’s Research Fellow at the University of Technology Sydney.
Jon has recently published a paper looking at the effects of the policy on the community and mental health patients themselves, as well as the legality of the policy in terms of Australia’s international obligations.
Image: Azat Akhyarov on Flickr.
