An independent team of experts will manage Cumberland Hospital after a string of patients absconding from the facility resulted in the deaths of three people, including the fatal stabbing of a man in Sydney’s west.
Mental Health Minister Rose Jackson made the decision after three men allegedly absconded from the mental health unit in as many weeks.
“Community safety is a top priority for our government and I am concerned that recent incidents at Cumberland Hospital undermine the sense of safety and security people rightly expect in the management of our mental health system,” Jackson said.
Cumberland Hospital has also been provided with additional security for the safety patients and hospital staff. (Nine)
“A formal review into these recent incidents is under way, but because we want it to be a thorough process it will not be completed overnight.”
A recently announced review of the facility is set to look into the treatment of patients, security protocols and its response to abscondings.
Cumberland Hospital has also been provided with additional security for the safety patients and staff.
Previously, there were four security guards overseeing all of Cumberland Hospital. There will now be six, including oversight from a senior officer.
The shift in management at the hospital comes after the widow of the victim of a random stabbing in Sydney’s west last week claimed the negligence of NSW Health was responsible for his death.
His accused killer, Setefano Leaaetoa, was one of the three people to abscond from Cumberland’s mental health unit.
Becky Ramadani blamed the health department, believing their lack of duty of care led to the death of her partner after he was allegedly murdered in a busy Merrylands street.
Amamuddin Sadar and Becky Ramadani had been together for 11 years. (Nine / Supplied)
”The negligence of the health department is responsible for this,” she told 9News.
The hospital is set to close permanently at the end of next year following the opening of the new $540 million Westmead Integrated Mental Health complex.
”We don’t want people experiencing mental distress shunted away in small, isolated facilities. The new Westmead Integrated Mental Health Complex will allow us to relocate patients into a modern, integrated network of health facilities,” Jackson said.
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