Injured homeless woman sleeps in her car on Rotorua hospital grounds

A homeless woman in Rotorua slept in her car after being discharged from hospital with a broken ankle. Photo / Andrew Warner

By Libby Kirkby-McLeod of RNZ

A homeless woman in Rotorua had to sleep in her car on hospital grounds after being discharged with injuries which made it impossible for her to drive.

Nicola was attacked on Friday evening, June 13.

In severe pain and realising something was wrong with her, she drove with difficulty to Rotorua hospital the next morning, leaving her car in a disabled car space in the hospital parking.

She said she received excellent care in the hospital where her broken ankle was put in a cast.

“When I went through the ED they were amazing, and Rotorua hospital staff are amazing, so I had a very good experience,” she said.

The problem came on Monday afternoon, June 16, when it was suddenly announced she was being discharged.

“I said look, I can’t go. If I go now, I’m going to go to Winz and they aren’t going to be able to help me because it’s 4pm on a Monday afternoon and they close at 5pm.”

After speaking to several people, she was given permission to stay one more night and go to Work and Income’s Rotorua office in the morning.

On Tuesday, having been given the resources to take a taxi to Work and Income, Nicola visited community housing hub Te Pokapū. She was left with the impression she had not lived in Rotorua for long enough to receive emergency housing help.

Ministry of Social Development’s (MSD) Regional Commissioner Jacob Davies said eligibility for an emergency housing grant did not specify that a person must have lived in a given area for two years.

“If someone asks for housing assistance, we discuss their situation with them and how we may be able to help,” he said.

However, MSD does consider whether someone seeking emergency housing had unreasonably contributed to their immediate emergency housing need.

Davies said Nicola left an existing tenancy in Putāruru and moved to Rotorua, first visiting MSD on 5 June to ask for emergency housing.

“She was still receiving financial assistance from Work and Income to pay for her tenancy in Putāruru, but she told us she had left there and moved to Rotorua about three weeks earlier, to house sit a property. However, that arrangement did not eventuate.

“At Te Pokapū, [Nicola] was informed she wouldn’t be eligible for emergency housing because she had left Putāruru and her tenancy there.

“We acknowledge that a more detailed conversation with Nicola, about her options for MSD housing support, may have ensured greater clarity about what was available to her and why,” he said.

Nicola is 51 and said for many years her life had been stable and she was employed. This changed in the past few years after moving towns to live with a partner in what became an abusive relationship.

After leaving the relationship, she had several temporary living arrangements but was unable to keep working and for the past month has been living in her car.

RNZ has chosen not to use her last name to protect her.

After leaving hospital and again being turned down for emergency housing, Nicola found a friend who was able to give her a lift back to the hospital where she said she stayed in her parked car until Thursday, June 19.

Health New Zealand (HNZ) Lakes District acting group director of operations Kathy Rex said HNZ is responsible for the health-related needs of patients.

“We encourage anyone who needs assistance with housing or living support to seek help from relevant agencies,” she said.

If required, HNZ will help connect patients and whānau with community agencies and appropriate support.

Nicola said she received at least two warnings she was not allowed to be in her car at the hospital and would be towed or the police called. She continued to make it clear that because of her injuries she was unable to physically and legally drive the car.

“I’m not trying to stay or to be disruptive - I don’t want to be here in the carpark at the hospital, I don’t want to be taking up a space that a disabled person could be in, but I also thought, I am actually disabled, I have a cast on my leg, and I can’t walk properly.”

Nicola said that on June 19 she was visited again, this time by the hospital facilities manager and security. After again making it clear she could not drive, it was agreed a security guard could move her car to a different carpark nearby.

Rex said owners of vehicles parked in a disability carpark at Rotorua hospital without a disability permit are asked to move to one of the visitor car parks provided.

“Our staff are available to help with this if someone is unable to move their vehicle on their own,” she said.

On Wednesday, June 18, unsure what to do, Nicola began calling people in Parliament. The first to answer her call and offer help was the office of Labour spokesperson for Mental Health, MP Ingrid Leary.

Leary said her office was trying to help Nicola and had been in communications with the hospital which she felt had let Nicola down.

She said it was a heartless situation, brought about by stressed-out services because of underfunding and cuts.

“My concern is that when a hospital discharges someone they need to ensure they are going somewhere safe and that they will be safe and well for the immediate future and that hasn’t happened in this case,” Leary said.

She said Government estimation appropriation for emergency accommodation had reduced by $225 million this year.

“The result is what we see in this case - someone who clearly needs emergency accommodation who has been kicked to the curb.”

MSD said on June 19, Nicola was approved for an Accommodation Costs in Advance Grant to help her pay for a backpackers, which was arranged by a social worker for her. Davies said Nicola told them she did not want to accept this support.

Nicola said there was no way she could pay that grant back, and the backpackers did not have space for her to park her car. Leary also said backpackers are not always the safest place to accommodate vulnerable women.

Instead, Nicola organised to stay in a motel which cost the same amount per night as the backpackers and allowed her to park her car.

It is unclear how this is going to be paid for.

Correction: An earlier version of this story stated Leary said Government appropriation for emergency hospital had reduced by $225m this year. This has been amended, as she said Government estimated appropriation for emergency accommodation had reduced by $225m this year.

- RNZ