Staff shortage 'factor' in man's suicide

A shortage of psychologists at one of the country's top mental health facilities contributed to a young man's death, a coroner's report has found.

Christopher George Burks, aged 25, was found dead at his Thames home after he committed suicide on June 3 last year.

He had attempted suicide three times in the two months before his death and had been admitted to Health Waikato's Henry Bennett Centre twice in that time.

His mother, Rosemary Burks, found him dead in a barn at their Thames farmstay two weeks after being discharged from the centre.

"They should not have let him go. Where was the care then? Chris needed help but he was out before he got anything," she said.

Thames coroner John Jenkison's report stated a "serious shortage of psychologists [at Health Waikato] had been highlighted" by Mr Burks' death.

Director of Health Waikato's adult mental health services, Dr Herman Lombard, told the inquest that Mr Burks' problems were psychological but the Henry Bennett Centre did not have a psychologist working for it at the time.

Mr Burks was seen by at least five psychiatrists at the centre but the only psychologist available was at Thames. A waiting list meant a month's delay for his services.

The $17 million, 114-bed Henry Bennett Centre opened in 1997 to cater for psychiatric patients requiring intensive care and mentally-ill offenders.

The centre's general manager, Chris Harris, said Mr Burks' case had been handled appropriately and, although there was a shortage of psychologists, it was not as acute as portrayed in the coroner's report.

"There was one [a psychologist] available, although there was, like all things in the health service, a waiting list.

"The issue was Chris' unwillingness to engage. He was not here under a compulsory treatment order ... we cannot force a person to engage in a process if they do not want to."

The centre's manager at the time, Professor Graham Mellsop, said yesterday that the lack of psychologists at the centre was significant but there was a shortage throughout the country.

Mr Burks was discharged from the centre on May 21 after he refused a recommendation that he voluntarily admit himself to Ashburn Hall, near Dunedin, which specialises in the treatment of highly intelligent people.

Mrs Burks said her son, who had two degrees from Otago University, had been poorly treated.