Hospitals and psychiatric institutions
The conversion of a ward at Hietzing Hospital with Neurological Rehabilitation
Centre Rosenhügel into a transitional psychiatry ward for the care of
adolescents and young adults between the ages of 16 and 25 in 2019 is thus
a very welcome development. However, the NPM observed on a follow-up
visit that the “Transitional psychiatry” project had not been implemented
properly. Adolescent patients had been admitted to the said ward but the legal,
structural and organisational principles and concept according to which the
“Transitional psychiatry” project should be implemented has still not been
regulated. It was also not possible to find out the staffing and qualifications,
and which personnel development measures are required to carry out
the transitional psychiatric care obligation in order to meet the relevant
performance requirements. With regard to these basic questions, reference
was merely made to a working group within the framework of a psychiatric
and psychosomatic care plan as well as an internal departmental concept. As
far as the adolescent patients are concerned, this results in a lack of specific
therapeutic concepts and programmes that are tailored to the target group as
well as a lack of competence in child and adolescent psychiatry on the part
of the care staff. The lack of clarity surrounding the actual start of in-patient
transitional psychiatric care was the cause of frustration and uncertainty
among the nursing staff, thus resulting in high staff turnover.
There was thus still no child and adolescent psychiatric ward concept
(objectives, programmes, treatment models, care models) as well as specific
specialised concepts (e.g. dealing with violence, coercive treatments, drug
abuse and self-harming behaviour). Furthermore, there was no qualified staff
for child and adolescent psychiatric treatment. The support services initially
provided by the Rosenhügel Child and Adolescent Psychiatry department had
been virtually stopped. The lack of adolescent psychiatric concepts in the ward
was thus additionally worsened.
Lack of concepts for the
ward
The Chief Executive Office of the City of Vienna conceded that the development
of the “Transitional psychiatry” project was delayed due to the COVID-19
pandemic. The project was due to start with sufficient qualified staff in autumn
2020. A team training programme in the area of dialectic-behavioural therapy
that had already started was also only continued in autumn 2020 due to the
pandemic. However, only a “Draft concept for the transitional psychiatry pilot
project” including the planned staffing was handed over to the NPM.
The NPM thus pointed out once again that a detailed plan of the structural and
organisational principles as well as of the staffing and personnel development
measures is required.
On a monitoring visit to the Department of Neurology and Psychiatry in
Childhood and Adolescence at Clinic Klagenfurt, the NPM dealt with the
psychiatric care of children and adolescents in Carinthia in closer detail.
Care deficits in Carinthia
The implementation of the Psychiatry Plan 2020 was delayed and is only due
to start in 2021. The reason for this is that the out-patient clinics for child
54
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents