Crowded ward under fire again

Palmerston North Hospital’s new mental health ward is needed urgently, with Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier criticising the current Ward 21 as dreary, crowded and noisy.

Boshier said the ward also needed urgent maintenance before the new building was opened.

His report after an unannounced inspection in May 2021 was released days after advocates Owen and Carey Hume, whose daughter Erica died while amental health inpatient in 2014, spoke out against delays in designing and building the new ward.

Government money for the $30 million ward was committed at the end of 2019, but latest estimates were that building would not start until late 2022, and the date for opening in 2023 had not been set.

Boshier said he was encouraged that the Midcentral District Health Board had accepted his 17 recommendations for improvements to its hospital-based mental health services.

He also commended the board for the design work it was doing with iwi to ensure the new unit was culturally appropriate and welcoming.

‘‘However, I reiterate my concern regarding the urgency for tāngata whai ora (mental health patients) to be in a fit-for-purpose environment.’’

Boshier said conditions at the current ward were poor, and it was operating at or above capacity.

It needed urgent work to ensure there was sufficient natural light and fresh air, particularly in rooms used for seclusion – a practice of locking people in bare rooms, which Boshier wants to see eliminated.

Work was also needed to remove offensive graffiti, and to better provide for the safety and dignity of patients.

Midcentral mental health and addictions operations executive Scott Ambridge said it was acknowledged that improvements were needed, but he was heartened that patients the ombudsman’s team interviewed were generally positive about their treatment and care on the ward.

He said there was a strong commitment from staff to stop the use of seclusion, and a 20-day period during April with no seclusions demonstrated progress.

In the meantime, the board had acted on recommended physical improvements to the current high needs unit.

Ambridge said a dedicated sensorymodulation room had been set up, damage to walls and doors had been painted over, blinds were repaired, and murals created.

About $20,000 had been spent on soft furniture and furnishings, which would be used in the new building.