Woman's detox nightmare

A recovering Tauranga alcoholic is calling for a new alcohol detox unit in the city after a horror stay among mental health patients at the region's only designated unit.
Nicole Mowry last month admitted herself to Bay of Plenty District Health Board's Mental Health and Addiction Services ward at Whakatane, in her second attempt to sober up there.
Run by the health board's Community Alcohol and Drug Service (CADS), the ward is the only medical detoxification unit for alcoholics in the Western and Eastern Bay.
The 21-year-old solo mother said having to share the ward with mental health patients - who she said could be heard screaming and cursing throughout the night - made it impossible for her to have peace.
She said that after five days in the ward, she was asked to leave after a verbal altercation with another patient in the ward.
Ms Mowry, who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, has been battling an alcohol problem since she was 16.
Last month was her second attempt at sobering up in the detox unit - she admitted her first stay, a year and a half ago, was cut short because she tried to bring drugs in with her.
But she said she was more determined to beat her addiction the second time around.
"I did it for my son. I've been screwing up my life with drinking and I didn't want him growing up with a mother who is an alcoholic."
Ms Mowry said while she was pleased with her the treatment she received from staff and her living quarters - a small room with a bed, small desk and open wardrobe - she believed the ward did not offer the peace she needed.
"It was really hard. I was afraid to have showers and patients would just go ape during the night. There was one patient who kept shouting out swear words and I had to tell him to shut up, but not in those words."
Ms Mowry believed alcoholics who required a medical detox should have a quiet, designated unit with specialist staff on hand - and she questioned why there wasn't such a facility in Tauranga.
She is now considering starting a petition for one to be established.
But Bay of Plenty District Health Board chief operating officer, Phillip Balmer, said the large area covered by the health board, which stretches from Waihi Beach to the East Cape, made Whakatane a "central point" for the entire region.
"By utilising the beds at Whakatane the CADS service is able to provide quick and easy access to an inpatient detox treatment facility staffed by experts in the field for all Bay of Plenty residents.
"This specialist service provides detoxification for people in an environment where they are able to be supported by appropriately trained and qualified staff who are available to monitor both the physical effects of substance withdrawal as well as the psychological effects."
Mr Balmer said CADS began offering detoxification as a treatment option four years ago.
"Previously clients requiring inpatient detox had to access this through the Auckland Regional Service, which often meant a considerable wait for a bed and the inconvenience of travelling long distance."
David Benton, director of Tauranga's Hanmer Clinic, acknowledged that staying in the ward might be "a bit unnerving" for some patients, but believed it to be a "compromise" given what funding was available.
"For a region of this size, it's not too bad. It's always seemed to me that Waikato, Hawke's Bay and Bay of Plenty might get a better deal if they pool their resources, but then it's a matter of cross-funding, which is a nightmare when it comes to DHBs."
Mr Benton said Auckland's 10-bed medical detox unit was expensive to run "and what we have is a compromise - it's less than a Rolls Royce model but it will do the job".