May 03, 2022
Too many Māori in mental health lock up
The Chief Ombudsman has called out another mental health unit for the overrepresentation of Māori in seclusion.
Days after slating units in Tauranga and Whakatāne for their use of seclusion, Peter Boshier has reported on an inspection last year of Palmerston North Hospital’s Ward 21 acute mental health unit.
He found of the 20 seclusion events over the previous six months, 14 involved Māori patients – a ration of 70 per cent, despite only 38 per cent of patients identifying as Māori.
He says Ministry of Health needs to look at why this is occurring.
Judge Boshier says of putting someone alone in a space from which they cannot freely leave has little therapeutic value and should be declining as a practice.