The family and friends of a young Aboriginal woman who took her own life in a Melbourne hospital within hours of presenting seeking psychiatric help are calling for a full investigation into her treatment.
Makalie Watts-Owens, a 24-year-old Tagalaka, Kukatja and Worimi woman who was working in the Victorian Office of Public Prosecutions and studying law, voluntarily admitted herself to St Vincents hospital on Thursday 15 February and was seen that evening.
Makalie’s mother, Sharon Watts-Owens, said her daughter was admitted and given medication to help her sleep, but was left alone in a hospital room long enough to end her own life. By the time staff returned and discovered her, she could not be revived, her mother said.
Watts-Owens, who lives in Adelaide, said she had spoken with her daughter as usual on Thursday but the first she knew of her daughter’s admission was when she received a call to say Makalie was unresponsive in ICU.
“From what they told us, she was put into a room where they gave her medication to help her sleep, closed the door and left her, and she hung herself. They left her alone, with no intervals of 10 minutes to check on her, with no one checking on her to see if she’s OK,” Sharon Watts-Owens said.
She travelled to St Vincent’s and arrived on Friday evening, but Makalie could not be revived and died on Monday 19 February.
Watts-Owens said her family are devastated and heartbroken, and now want answers about how Makalie could have taken her own life in a hospital psychiatric ward.
“She should have been watched, there should have been systems put into place given that suicide rates are so high among our people, [she] should have been monitored, she shouldn’t have been left alone and she should have felt culturally safe,” Watts-Owens said.
“That system has let my child down and I’m now grieving because I have lost a daughter, her siblings have lost a sister, we’ve lost a friend, we’ve lost an auntie.
“We’ve lost everything.
“You had a duty of care, you failed. You failed to protect my child. You failed to keep her safe. You failed to keep her culturally safe. My child is now gone. And I can’t bring her back,” Watts-Owens said.
Makalie’s friend Miriama Pearce-Wikatene said her preventable death represents a failure of Victorian healthcare, especially since the 2021 royal commission into Victoria’s mental health system, which made several recommendations about the need for urgent and significant reforms.
“Our girl deserves justice,” Pearce-Wikatene wrote in an Instagram post on Wednesday. “The healthcare system failed her.
“I will not let my friend become another Blackfulla suicide statistic when she was under hospital ‘supervision’,” she wrote.
“She asked for help in the best way she knew how and didn’t get it. Shame on St Vincent’s Melbourne.”
Victoria’s health department clinical practice guidelines for emergency departments and mental health services working with suicidal patients state that a person who is hospitalised because of imminent suicide risk should be continuously monitored.
“Vigilance through direct observation and supervision by a calming support person is necessary to prevent possible suicide attempts by newly admitted patients,” the guidelines state.
The Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (Vaccho) said it has contacted the state government and the hospital expressing their concerns and requesting further information.
Vaccho chief executive, Jill Gallagher, said the unexpected death of another member of the Aboriginal community in hospital is deeply distressing.
“When people present to a hospital they do so because they need help, they do so because they want to be cared for,” Gallagher said.
“It is completely unacceptable that we continue to see our loved ones and community members die whilst accessing systems that are supposed to support them.
“This latest tragedy is a reminder that urgent changes are required to systems that are clearly failing to support the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.”
A spokesperson for St Vincent’s said the hospital could not comment on the matter, which has been referred to the state coroner.
“St Vincent’s offers its sincere and deep condolences to the family and loved ones following the tragic passing of a First Nations woman in our services on Monday 19 February.
“St Vincent’s has reported the matter to the relevant authorities, including the Victorian coroner, and is unable to make further comment while investigations are ongoing,” the spokesperson said.
For information and support in Australia call 13YARN on 13 92 76 for a crisis support line for Indigenous Australians; or call Lifeline on 13 11 14, Mensline on 1300 789 978 and Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636. International helplines can be found at befrienders.org
