Nurses at centre of probe off work

By MARTIN JOHNSTON health reporter

Seven nurses at an acute mental health unit are off work while managers investigate complaints from a colleague about their work practices.

The allegations were made by a nurse new to acute psychiatric care and include putting a patient into a "seclusion" cell unnecessarily and responding abruptly when asked why an intensive care patient was taken outside into a courtyard in the middle of the night.

The seven staff at the 38-bed Taharoto unit beside North Shore Hospital have not been suspended. They have been on "discretionary sick leave" since April 28.

"We're refuting all the allegations," delegate Jim Ferguson, a Taharoto nurse, said last night.

"This should have been dealt with at the basic level where the charge nurse talks to them and it could have been answered and dealt with. It's been taken far further than it should be. These things are quite trivial."

The Public Service Association says the loss of such highly experienced staff has weakened safety.



There were no patient complaints behind the colleague's allegations.

Mr Ferguson said it was appropriate that the accused nurses be off work during the investigation, but their absence was compounding the pressures on Auckland's already-stretched mental health services.

Some patients are still often held in police cells because of a shortage of beds and community services, despite special increases in Government mental health money for the region following an inquiry last year.

In March, community mental health workers in West Auckland spoke out in the Herald about the pressures on their service, saying they were counting down to the next mental health tragedy.

Taharoto staff say the unit now relies on relatively junior nurses, others on overtime and temporary staff from a nursing agency during weekend night-shifts and that their combined degree of experience is much lower than that of the seven, reducing safety.

But a Waitemata District Health Board manager, Dave Davies, who confirmed an investigation was under way, asserted that safety was being maintained.

"We do have a really efficient rostering system," said Mr Davies, the mental health services general manager. "We have union agreements so it wouldn't be unsafe."

A source said one of the most serious allegations was that night-shift nurses put a patient into a locked seclusion cell "for staff convenience".

"Because the patient was escalated [agitated] and unable to follow nursing direction, staff wanted a quiet night so they used seclusion - which is total nonsense."

The source also said it was not unusual to take a patient who was having trouble sleeping from the no-smoking intensive care unit into the enclosed courtyard for a cigarette and a cup of Milo, if this was their pattern at home.

"It usually settles them quite well."