Patients at Canberra's forensic mental-health facility have been absconding and returning to the unit under the influence of drugs or alcohol, staff say.Staff emails reveal concerns about how to search patients for drugsThe reports have prompted health authorities to review safety and security at Dhulwa, a secure unit in Symonston.
CHS executive Sonny Ward, the director of nursing for mental-health patients, wrote there was "no legislated reason" why sniffer dogs could not be used at Dhulwa. "It is not financially viable for a private company to be engaged on an ad hoc basis, additionally this presents inconsistencies for training the dogs," he wrote."Addressing this issue would be the best way forward in maintaining a drug-free environment at Dhulwa."
In a statement to the ABC, CHS said the 31 patients who had absconded over the past year accounted for about 2 per cent of total admissions to mental-health units. "Granting leave from a CHS mental-health unit is a clinical decision made by the treating team and is carefully determined by a range of factors.