Pressure valve at Hillmorton?

Seclusion of ‘‘distressed’’ patients at Hillmorton Hospital’s acute inpatient unit spiked in May as occupancy at the already-strained service reached ‘‘unsustainable’’ levels.

To help alleviate pressure, the Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) is looking for a provider to run a communitybased, eight-bed alternative to Hillmorton.

Proposals for the service, intended for adults with acute mental health needs, closed on Wednesday. A CDHB spokeswoman said it was hoped to be up and running by the end of the year, or early next year.

Meanwhile, the 64-bed acute inpatient service, called Te Awakura, is struggling with high demand. Occupancy rates reached as high as 98 per cent in May, when 187 patients were treated in the unit.

‘‘Such high occupancy is unsustainable and does not allow for increased demand over time,’’ the agenda for a CDHB board meeting on June 21 noted.

May also had

aspike in seclusion hours, something the agenda said was partly caused by the high number of acutely unwell people admitted to the unit and increased methamphetamine use.

Five people were secluded for a total of 208.5 hours in Te Awakura in May, double the monthly average for the previous 12 months of 100.06 hours.

This group of patients was ‘‘particularly distressed, agitated, and displaying aggressive behaviour’’, the CDHB spokeswoman said.

Overall seclusion rates have been dropping for several years and ‘‘staff are working extremely hard to continue to provide care for people in a least restrictive manner’’, according to the board agenda.

A nurse at Hillmorton, who did not want to give their name, said seclusion was a ‘‘last resort for grossly thoughtdisordered individuals who have demonstrated violence’’.

‘‘It’s only when the nurses and doctors can’t handle them that they go in there.’’

Violence against staff at Te Awakura has been under the spotlight due to a spate of assaults, which CDHB board member Jo Kane last month linked to high occupancy rates.