Nearly a third of patient deaths in mental health wards potentially avoidable, according to study

Medical Xpress October 4, 2023
Ben Knight, University of New South Wales

New research suggests close to one in three deaths in inpatient psychiatric care in New South Wales were due to self-harm or potentially avoidable medical conditions.

Almost a third of deaths that occur in mental health wards could be potentially avoidable. That’s the finding of new research from UNSW Sydney, which suggests more needs to be done to improve physical health care access to prevent deaths in people with severe mental illness.

The study, published recently in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, found 471 deaths in inpatient psychiatric wards over a 10-year period in New South Wales (NSW)—141 of which were deemed preventable.

Potentially avoidable deaths are those that could have been prevented through timely and effective medical intervention and...

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