Ombudsman worried about mental health seclusion in Bay of Plenty

The chief ombudsman has raised concerns around the rates of seclusion at mental health facilities in the Bay of Plenty. Photo / Getty Images

Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier says he is worried about high rates of seclusion at two Bay of Plenty mental health facilities, particularly for Māori patients.

Boshier today published reports of follow-up visits to Te Toki Maurere in Whakatāne and Te Whare Maiangiangi in Tauranga in July and August last year.

Both are mental health inpatient units run by Bay of Plenty District Health Board.

Concerns around seclusion practices were reported for both facilities.

"My views on the use of seclusion are well-documented but I reiterate that I consider seclusion is a serious intervention with no therapeutic benefit and potentially harmful effects on patients," Boshier said in a media statement.

"It concerns me greatly that reducing and eliminating its use seems to be making only slow progress, despite my regular calls for it to be stopped."

Although a project team has been established at Te Whare Maiangiangi to reduce high and increasing levels of seclusion at the facility since the ombudsman's last inspection in 2018, Boshier says progress has been slow.

The 2021 inspection found the number of seclusion events at the Tauranga facility had increased since the previous inspection, from 59 events in six months, to 85 events.

The number of hours spent in seclusion had, however, dropped, from 1413 to 833, which Boshier acknowledges.

BOP DHB's Reducing Seclusion project team had also acknowledged that Māori were still overrepresented in seclusion data, a fact Boshier also highlighted in his report of Te Whare Maiangiangi.

"I have made a recommendation in my report that Te Whare Maiangiangi addresses its high use of seclusion, particularly as it relates to Māori," he said.

Boshier had previously raised similar concerns about the disproportionate seclusion of Māori patients in a report about Te Awhina acute mental health unit in Whanganui.

"This simply should not be happening. There is absolutely no reason for Māori patients to be secluded more than any others. I urge the Ministry of Health to address this as a matter of urgency."

The inspection of Te Toki Maurere unit in Whakatāne also showed an increase in seclusion events, from 26 in six months in 2018 to 39 over six months in 2021.

However, data showed seclusion was generally reducing over time.

Boshier had recommended that the unit improves data-recording systems to ensure the collection and reporting of reliable and accurate seclusion information.

It follows a discrepancy found between the unit's data and the DHB's on the number of patients there and the number of hours they spent in seclusion.

"Reliable and accurate data is essential to ensure that the unit continues its progress towards reducing and eliminating the use of seclusion," Boshier said.

The inspections were carried out under the Crimes of Torture Act 1989.

New Zealand is a signatory to the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT), an international human rights agreement.