DHB to release assault report

A summarised report into the assault of four nurses will be released by Hutt Valley District Health Board following strong criticism from its own staff.

Emergency department (ED) workers at Hutt Hospital were left frustrated after attempts to have the independent report widely released fell on deaf ears.

The latest attempt to access the report was in August last year, when more than 40 nurses and doctors signed a letter asking for a summarised review of the report’s findings.

In a statement, the health board’s director of provider services, Joy Farley, said a summary report would be released and all staff would have access to it in the coming days.

The independent report was commissioned following an incident on Boxing Day 2018 when a drunk patient attacked and injured four nurses.

The summary report, which included the review findings and recommendations, had been shared with some staff at two meetings last year, she said.

NZ Nurses Organisation union organiser Drew Mayhem said though it was pleasing the health board had decided to come to the party, it should have been transparent from the beginning. The DHB needed to be proactive when it came to the safely of members of the public and its staff.

‘‘Their actions seem to show they are beholden to what the [Health] Ministry wants to hear and not what the board needs to hear.’’

The union was unaware of any of its members having seen the report in any form.

The fact that so many ED staff had signed a letter asking for its release called into question how many people had actually seen it, Mayhem said.

Hutt South MP Chris Bishop said the situation seemed ridiculous and there appeared to be an issue with transparency.

A redacted report should have been made public. He said a pattern was developing at the DHB with a November 2018 review of women’s health services not released until July last year.

Hutt-based Labour MP Ginny Andersen said the public and hospital staff needed to know what the health board was doing so that similar events could be prevented.

In August last year, more than 40 nurses and doctors signed a letter asking for a summarised review of the report’s findings.