Vic psych patients need support: Coroner

A Victorian coroner has found that an acute psychiatric patient, who killed another man after he was released from hospital, should not have been discharged until his medication had taken effect.

John Olle also recommended that recovery units be made available for such patients before they are released from care.

He handed down his findings into the 2009 death of a Narre Warren man, 52, who died after he was found unconscious in a backyard pool after being violently assaulted by a the former patient.

The victim, known as Male D, died of multiple injuries and immersion leading to hypoxic brain injury and pneumonia.

It's believed Male D knew his attacker and was assaulted while drinking by a friend's backyard pool.

Mr Olle said the attacker, who cannot be named, had been admitted into Casey Hospital's psychiatric ward four times between 2006 and Male D's death on February 2, 2009.

He had a schizo-affective disorder, characterised by manic episodes, persecutory delusions and auditory hallucinations, and often became extremely abusive, hostile, intimidating and paranoid.

The coroner's report said the attacker went into psychiatric care on December 30, 2008 after a lengthy siege at his parents' home.

Just 17 days later, he was discharged with plans to manage his condition with medication.

Despite becoming aggressive a week later when made to wait for an appointment with his case worker, he was not deemed a risk to the community.

Mr Olle said patients in an acute psychiatric unit should at least have the option of going to a recovery unit before they are discharged.

"In general medicine, it would be unacceptable if a patient was discharged into the community from an intensive care unit," Mr Olle said on Monday.

Mr Olle found that the man shouldn't have been discharged until his anti-psychotic medication had taken effect, step down or recovery units should be made available to all psychiatric units, and hospital staff should have access to forensic psychiatrists.