Nurses at Canberra's adult mental health unit have been working in a violent and aggressive environment, which has led to an improvement notice calling for beds to be closed or increases to staffing levels.
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A provisional improvement notice (PIN) was issued at the unit in late July, the day after an incident in which a nurse is believed to have been assaulted, and will remain in place until the end of October.
The notice related to aggression and violence to which staff at the $36 million 35-bed unit have been exposed.
Katrina Bracher, executive director of ACT Mental Health, Justice Health and Alcohol and Drug Services, said she was concerned by the working environment, which she conceded was difficult for staff to work in.
"We, as clinicians, choose to work in that area because we have a commitment to caring for people who have high levels of behavioural and psychological distress," she said.
"What we need to make sure we do is manage those levels of distress and agitation in the workplace to a level that keeps staff as safe as we possibly can. There will always be incidents in mental health units but what we need to be assured of is that they're as low level and as infrequent as possible."
The PIN called for beds at the unit to be closed or for an increase to staff numbers.
Ms Bracher said it would have been unfair to shut beds, but ACT Health had increased staffing levels by one extra nurse for each shift.
She said this was an interim measure while issues of aggression and violence in the unit were worked through in a "calm and controlled way".
The PIN also called for a more permanent response.
Shadow mental health minister Giulia Jones said nurses were entitled to a safe working environment and the PIN was a "pretty strong statement that basically the government is not managing this facility properly".
The notice also related to a post-occupancy review currently under way.
Ms Bracher said the review was "standard infrastructure practice" and will examine how the unit has performed since opening, the model of care, staffing and whether it had delivered the required level of mental healthcare.
The review was delayed by six to nine months and consultants were not due to report to ACT Health until October or early November, Ms Bracher said.
Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation ACT branch secretary Jenny Miragaya was concerned by the delay.
"It's a concern to us as to why it's taken so long to actually look at the building and the staffing and skill mix, the model of care … and in the meantime we've had a litany of instances related to violence and aggression, both physical abuse to the building … but also there's damage being done to the nursing staff, that they are being physically assaulted or being subjected to verbal or physical abuse," she said.
Ms Miragaya said ACT Health had been willing to listen to and investigate concerns, but there did not appear to be a long-term solution. She welcomed increases to staff numbers while the PIN was in place and post-occupancy review under way.
Ms Bracher said ACT Health had been working with staff and health and safety officers to develop an action plan to improve staff safety.
Aspects of the plan include early recognition of psychological distress by staff, reducing the acuity of people in the unit and supporting staff with rosters and training.
A spokeswoman said ACT Health had been working closely with the health and safety representative (HSR) on "the action plan developed to remediate the concerns raised in the initial PIN".
Ms Jones was deeply concerned about nurse safety and said a more permanent solution was desperately needed.
"I would really like to see proper effort go into fixing what is clearly not right in this facility at the moment," she said.
