Rāwene man, 23, in court after alleged hospital assaults

Alleged assaults at Rāwene Hospital last week prompted a nurses’ union to call for more security at provincial hospitals, while acknowledging it wouldn’t be easy for small rural facilities. Photo / Peter de Graaf

A 23-year-old man has appeared in court charged with assaulting two people at Rāwene Hospital in an incident one victim described as “like a scene out of a horror movie”.

Te Tikanga Atutolu, of Rāwene, appeared in the Kaikohe District Court on Tuesday facing two counts of assault.

One of the victims of last week’s fracas is believed to be a doctor at the rural hospital serving the Hokianga area.

The other is an emergency services volunteer who, in the absence of security staff, is called on by hospital staff for help when there are problems at the hospital after hours.

Atutolu is due back in court for a list hearing on June 10.

He was jointly charged with another man for the alleged assault on the volunteer. The other defendant has yet to appear in court.

A patient at the hospital at the time, who received a black eye and went public about the incident, was not named as a victim in the charging documents.

Police have, however, said more charges are possible.

The alleged incident began around 11.30pm on May 18-19 when four people, one with a badly cut arm, arrived at the hospital.

Patient Chrissie Massey earlier told media a “gentle and caring nurse [was] subjected to verbal and racial abuse” before she was allegedly spat on and punched herself.

She alleged one of the men then punched a doctor and a firefighter who came to help.

“Our beautiful, caring and tranquil Rāwene Hospital was turned into what I can only describe as a scene from a horror movie,” Massey said.

Hokianga Health chief executive Margareth Broodkoorn said staff were feeling understandably “unsafe and traumatised” after the incident.

A couple of staff members had taken discretionary leave while they recovered and the hospital was looking at other ways of providing counselling, support and debriefing. A serious incident review was also under way.

The hospital now had an extra male presence at night and was exploring longer-term security arrangements and support for staff.

Unfortunately, any security measures diverted funding away from health services.

“As our trustees have said, this isn’t something that happens often but it is a growing concern with the increasing level of violence in our community ... People are understandably concerned about our hospital, the patients we have on our wards and our long-term residents,” Broodkoorn said.

Police confirmed they responded to reports of an alleged assault in Rawene about 12.45am on May 19 and took one person into custody shortly afterwards.

They could not rule out further arrests and charges.

David Wills, director of the Nurses’ Society of New Zealand, said violence, abuse and harassment of health staff was increasing, with “a good number” of incidents brought to the union’s attention occurring at small clinics and rural locations.

The society had asked health organisations to review their security and risk mitigation measures, but that would be more difficult for small rural clinics.

“It is sad that money and resources have to be spent on security that should be used for patient care,” he said.

The Advocate understands Atutolu was due back at Rāwene Hospital for an appointment a few days later, prompting fresh staff concerns. He did not turn up, however.