AFTER a suicide attempt in early 2022, Michael Abeling attended Frankston Hospital twice only to be discharged within hours each time. Just two days after his final visit, he was dead.
Abeling’s widow, Rhiannon Abeling, is among one of two families now taking Peninsula Health to court. They allege that their loved ones did not receive appropriate psychiatric treatment at Frankston Hospital prior to their deaths by suicide.
Rhiannon Abeling says her husband had reached out for help, but did not receive the assistance he required from the hospital. “He wasn’t someone who had a history of this, he wasn’t at the hospital every other week. He hated suicide, but he got really depressed,” she said. After a suicide attempt, Abeling said she “sent him to hospital, but three hours later they said they were sending him home.”
After another incident in the days that followed, Abeling said the hospital asked to see a referral from a doctor before treating him. After handing the hospital the referral letter, she said her husband was seen and sent home again shortly afterwards.
“I sat with him until they could take him to the back, and a couple of hours later I was speaking to the clinician and I explained how in the last two weeks he had stopped going to work, he was broken down, depressed, and not interacting with his children. He was withdrawing from painkillers, and I expressed that I was really concerned. They told me they were going to see him, then ten minutes later I got a call telling me to come pick him up,” Abeling said. “Later on we got a call from the outreach team, which went four minutes and 58 seconds. They had bad reception. The following day we spoke to a drug and alcohol worker, and they then made contact with the hospital. I went for a nap and woke up to find my husband dead.”
A statement of claim filed in the Supreme Court of Victoria, seen by The Times, read that Michael Abeling was first admitted to Frankston Hospital on 8 January, 2022, after a drug overdose and was discharged later that day. On 11 January he expressed to his GP he was suicidal and outlined his planned method of dying. He was taken to Frankston Hospital and discharged on the same day again. He died by suicide on 13 January.
The Abelings shared five children together. Rhiannon Abeling says she wants to see change to prevent other families from suffering. “Frankston has among the highest rates of suicide, and so does the Mornington Peninsula, and they both fall under the same hospital,” she said. “There needs to be an attitude change. “I don’t want my husband’s death to be senseless.”
Shine Lawyers is leading a lawsuit against Peninsula Health on behalf of Abeling and her children. They are also representing a separate family which alleges that their relative did not receive appropriate treatment before their suicide.
Shine Lawyers’ Victorian medical law practice leader Daniel Opare said that Michael Abeling’s death is “an indictment on the state of our mental health services.” “He knew he was struggling so he tried to get help. He did everything he could to stay alive, and we allege those who were supposed to help him failed him when he needed them most,” Opare said. “There clearly needs to be a review of the way patients’ risk of self-harm is being classified. Michael told hospital staff he was suicidal and that he had a plan in place to take his life. I’m at a loss as to how those staff could have assessed him as a low risk. In my view, the psychiatric treatment provided in both cases was negligent.
“It’s an incredibly complex issue, and not one that has an easy fix, but at the very least it seems clear to me that practices at Frankston Hospital need to improve. The law requires hospitals to provide the least restrictive care to keep the patient safe, and there are also resourcing issues at our hospitals. However, these are not excuses to be negligent. Because of these cases and the influx of enquiries we have received, we are launching an investigation into the standard of psychiatric care currently being provided by Frankston Hospital and other public hospitals in Victoria.”
Peninsula Health runs the Frankston Hospital – its chief medical officer, adjunct associate professor Shyaman Menon, said “the health and wellbeing of our patients is of utmost importance to us at Peninsula Health, and we strive to ensure everyone receives the very best care.” “Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with the families affected in these cases,” Menon said. “Due to privacy and confidentiality, and as these matters are before the courts, we are unable to comment further.”
Opare said that Shine Lawyers “wants to hear from anyone who believes their loved one’s suicide in the past 10 years may have been prevented with better care from a public hospital”. For more information on the lawsuit visit shine.com.au/service/medical-negligence-lawyers/victorian-public-hospital-psychiatric-care-claims
To contact Lifeline call 13 11 14.
First published in the Mornington News – 3 September 2024
