Tuesday, 14 October, 2025
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SPORT
Charity locked out Bakhtar Community Organisation CEO Bassir Qadiri was shocked to discover his charity was locked out of its makeshift warehouse in Noble Park last week. After long-running negotiations, Greater Dandenong Council, which owns the
land, is now set to demolish the building to make way for public open space. As a result, Qadiri says a legion of families-in-need who arrived at the facility were knocked back. More on the story, turn to page 3
(Gary Sissons: 509041)
Mental anguish It started with an astonishing phone call. Star News was asked if it could deliver a bulk drop of newspapers for bored patients in Dandenong Hospital emergency department (ED). The caller explained that patients in wait of mental health beds were languishing in the ED for up to four or five days. It sounded scarcely believable. Until we had a look of the official stats.
According to the latest quarterly report for April-June 2025, just 5 per cent of Dandenong adult patients were transferred from ED to a mental health bed within 8 hours. It was even worse at Casey, which recorded 0 per cent. In other parts of Melbourne, the outcomes ranged from 36 per cent to 78 per cent. Monash Health has yet to respond as to why there’s such an alarming disparity.
However, mental health beds in Dandenong seem full to capacity - 99 per cent occupied, according to official stats. Mental Illness Fellowship of Australia says more psychosocial support services are required to support people living safely in the community and reduce hospital admissions. A report by the Australian Medical Association last year found patients spent an average of seven
hours in an ED before being admitted to mental health care in 2022-‘23. Mental health beds were at the lowest per capita on record, it found. Ten per cent of patients spent more than 23 hours waiting. More on the story, turn to page 9
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