Better communication and follow-up protocols between Fremantle’s mental health unit and emergency departments are being developed in response to the violent death of White Gum Valley resident Joan Hendry late last year.

Ms Hendry, 52, had tried to get her adult son Gabe Lang assessed at the Alma Street facility in December, but she just missed its 8pm closing time. She took him to the nearby emergency department but left after a prolonged wait as a disruptive drunk was upsetting her son.

Ms Hendry died later that night and her son has been charged with her murder. At a court hearing last month, Mr Lang’s lawyer Gerald Yin said his client was not fit to plead.

Following the incident, WA mental health minister Helen Morton ordered an urgent inquiry, and she told the Herald two recommendations had emerged.

“First that if a person has made a phone call to the Alma Street mental health clinic, before attending an emergency department, details need to be shared between the clinic and the emergency department,” she said.

“The other recommendation is to implement follow-up procedures be established for cases where people wait in emergency departments and then leave before being assessed, especially if they have presented with a mental health problem.”

Ms Morton said more than a quarter of the recommendations from the Stokes inquiry into WA’s mental health services had been implemented, while all other recommendations were “underway and on track”.

Prof Bryant Stokes was engaged to hold the review following hundreds of deaths linked to psychiatric facilities, including a high number of suicides. He found the sector was chronically under-staffed and lacking leadership.

by STEVE GRANT