There are calls to beef up security and increase resources at a major hospital in Victoria’s east after five serious attacks on mental health staff in less than a month. The Health and Community Services Union said Latrobe Regional Hospital was one of the worst performing hospitals for acute mental health services, and that it was in a “major crisis”. “Victoria has the lowest rate of funding in Australia … but also it has a huge staffing shortage,” HACSU assistant state secretary Paul Healey said. However, Latrobe Regional Hospital mental health unit director Cayte Hoppner said money and staffing would not solve the issue.
