John MacDonald: Christchurch stabbing - Buck stops with Health Minister Andrew Little

The buck stops with Health Minister Andrew Little over the Sockburn killing, writes John MacDonald. Photo / Jed Bradley

OPINION:

We started the week horrified by the random killing of Laisa Waka Tunidau on Cheyenne St in Sockburn, Christchurch.

She'd been at work last Saturday at a retirement village, finished up, got the bus home, had a 300-metre walk from the bus stop to her house, was nearly there - it was about 4.20pm - but she didn't make it home. She was attacked in broad daylight by a man with a knife. Emergency services got there, but they couldn't save her and she died at the scene.

The police at that point were saying the man allegedly responsible for the killing was known to them. It was also being reported back on Monday that he was in the care of mental health services.

Five days on, and now that we know more, we are scratching our heads wondering how the hell this was allowed to happen.

Because, since Monday, we've learned that the man accused of killing Laisa was on community leave from a specialist mental health facility at Hillmorton Hospital. As it's been reported, he had been in a secure unit but somehow he was allowed to leave.

At about 2pm last Saturday, he walked out of Hillmorton and got a bus to his brother's place in Sockburn. At some point, he left his brother's place, and it was shortly after that when the alleged killing took place.

It was 4.45pm when the police were notified the man wasn't at the hospital - nearly 30 minutes after the alleged killing.

Health Minister Andrew Little is getting his director of mental health to do an inspection of Hillmorton Hospital, which I gather isn't done lightly because it requires using statutory powers, which seem to be some sort of last resort.

But do you think that's going to be of any comfort to Laisa Waka Tunidau's family who held a funeral for her in Christchurch yesterday and who are flying her body back home to Fiji today? Do you think they'll care about that? Not right now they won't, anyway.

But they will want to know how the hell this happened. Her husband was saying as much earlier in the week when the health board was being all tight-lipped on it, hiding behind that age-old lame excuse of not commenting on something being investigated by the police.

Which is a load of old nonsense because whatever happened in the lead-up to that man walking out of Hillmorton last Saturday has nothing to do with determining whether or not he is guilty of the crime he is accused of.

And, as the week has gone on, the health board has been forced to prise open its lips and be a little bit more upfront about what actually happened last weekend.

Typically, though, most of the info has come from the people on the inside at Hillmorton who are having to deal with the cards handed to them by the health board and the Government.

Remember, it was back in January when the Health Minister was told beds in one of the secure units at Hillmorton had been capped at 12 instead of 15 because of staff shortages.

This brings me to the question of who is ultimately responsible for this man being allowed and able to walk out of Hillmorton last Saturday and allegedly kill an innocent woman walking home after work.

Is it the staff at Hillmorton who we know are under immense pressure? Is it the health board which is responsible for providing them with a safe working environment? Or is it the Health Minister, who was told six months ago how dire things are at Hillmorton?

I'm pointing the finger at the Health Minister because, as far as I'm concerned, the buck stops with him.