Health Minister Andrew Little opened the new facility on Tuesday. File photo / Jed Bradley
Health Minister Andrew Little opened the new facility on Tuesday. File photo / Jed Bradley
A new purpose-built mental health facility has opened in Porirua to support people with intellectual disabilities, and people with significant mental health conditions.
Health Minister Andrew Little opened the Manawai National Individualised Service Unit (ISU) today, saying it offers a homely environment for people to receive care in.
"These are people who have been engaging in behaviour that can be of high risk to themselves and others, they therefore require long-term care and rehabilitation in a secure setting and these units will go a long way to better support their rehabilitative gains."
The six-unit facility was funded by $13.3million from Budget 2018 and is constructed on the Rātonga-Rua-O-Porirua campus. It is an extension of the existing Haumietiketike unit.
Little says it's proof the Government is taking mental health seriously.
"Building reliable services takes time, but the completion of this project shows this is a government that takes mental health seriously and we are working hard to turn things around.
"The opening of this unit is an important step in investing in the future of mental health and intellectual disability services in Aotearoa."
So far, four people have been approved to join the unit and approvals for the remaining places are under way.
The new facility comes less than a month after Inspectors from the Children's Commissioner's office found a multitude of problems at the Regional Rangatahi Adolescent Inpatient Service (RRAIS) facility in Porirua.
Issues stemmed from staffing, the physical state of the unit and the wellbeing of patients.
The inspectors expressed alarm that distressed teenagers were held for up to two-and-a-half days in a cold, barren seclusion area where some were given cardboard potties nicknamed "cowboy hats" to go to the toilet in, and the only outdoor space was a "small cage covered with mesh" visible from a public street.
Safety issues at the "rundown, decaying" facility were compounded by a critical shortage of skilled employees to care for the young patients, the inspectors said.
"Staff were concerned about the safety of mokopuna at the unit and were afraid of serious injury or death," they said in one of the reports. "They described the unit as 'chaotic' or 'in crisis' as a result of unsafe staffing levels and a chronic shortage of experienced staff."
