By Jamie Berry,
The Age
September 1, 2004

The mental health system "totally failed" a man who committed suicide, his mother told an inquest yesterday.

Mark Patten, 27, was an electrician with a young daughter who committed suicide on March 7, 2003. On the night before his death, Mr Patten's mother, Janet Fenech, was trying to have him admitted to hospital, while a psychiatrist had also written to St Vincent's Hospital seeking Mr Patten's admission.

"I spoke to a psychiatric triage nurse and said that I wanted to send him in by ambulance," Ms Fenech said in her statement. "The nurse told me he was not on the critical list and she could not help me."

Ms Fenech said the triage nurse advised her to give Mr Patten his medication and that she would report it to the crisis and treatment team, which would contact her the next day.

On March 7, Ms Fenech had an appointment with psychiatrist Lyn-May Lim from the crisis and treatment team, who informed her that her son had committed suicide earlier that day.

Ms Fenech said her son was "reasonably well" during his 20s but by mid-2002, his mental illness had reached the point where he was severely depressed and had expressed suicidal ideas.

Ms Fenech said her son's condition had deteriorated further in early 2003 but he was happy after seeing psychiatrist Paul Wendiggensen in February 2003. "He was finally going to get help and (be) admitted to hospital," Ms Fenech said. But Dr Wendiggensen told the inquest yesterday that he ceased being Mr Patten's psychiatrist in late February after failing in his bid to get Mr Patten into St Vincent's Hospital. "My hands were tied," Dr Wendiggensen said. "I could do nothing."

Accusing the crisis and treatment teams of "blocking" beds in public hospitals, he said it was unfortunate but necessary for him to stop treating Mr Patten. "I considered Mark to be in need of in-patient care and that I considered him as a high suicide risk," he said in his statement.

Mr Patten had been visited by crisis and treatment teams three times between December 2002 and February 2003.

Ms Fenech sought an inquest on her son to "highlight the difficulty of getting hospital admission for someone with a great need for intensive treatment and hospitalisation".

"Although Mark had a long history of depression, he had never been able to obtain hospital admission despite serious psychological problems," Ms Fenech said. "Why had he never been admitted to hospital for proper assessment and treatment? The mental health system totally failed to treat Mark and to help him get better in the way he so desperately wanted."

The inquest, before Coroner Heather Spooner, continues today.