9. Capital and Coast District Health Board—ConfidenceKEVIN HAGUE (Green) to the Minister of HealthCapital and Coast District Health Board—Confidence9. KEVIN HAGUE (Green) to the Minister of Health: Does he have confidence in the Capital and Coast District Health Board?Hon Peseta SAM LOTU-IIGA (Associate Minister of Health) on behalf of the Minister of Health: Yes.Kevin Hague: How does the district health board (DHB) retain his confidence when a recent Crimes of Torture Act report found the treatment of Ashley Peacock to be cruel inhuman [and] degrading" and recommended urgent action for the third time something that has still not occurred?Hon Peseta SAM LOTU-IIGA: I seek leave to table the Ombudsman's report the Crimes of Torture Act report which includes appendix 5—Mr SPEAKER: Order! No. No no. It will be easily available if members want it. I suspect it may well have already been presented in report. Would the member please address the question.Hon Peseta SAM LOTU-IIGA: There has been an addition to the report that the member may not be aware of.Mr SPEAKER: Order! Then the member can get it. It will be publicly available on the Ombudsman's website. Would the Minister answer the question.Hon Peseta SAM LOTU-IIGA: The report has an appendix 5 which states quite clearly that the client "has some of the highest and most complex needs of any client that we have managed in our mental health services." I repeat: the DHB is working with the Ministry of Health to find a resolution for this person. In terms of seclusion which that member has constantly referred to I repeat that "In 2014 the client in question had 68.25 hours in seclusion" and in 2015 that was 360 hours.Kevin Hague: Does the Minister take ministerial responsibility for the performance of the Capital and Coast District Health Board in the care of Sam Fischer who killed himself while in the DHB's care?Hon Peseta SAM LOTU-IIGA: Certainly my thoughts and sympathies go to the family of Mr Fischer. That member will know that the district health board has commissioned an external panel of experts to do a review of some of the incidents within the district health board. The ministry has consulted on the terms of reference of that review and the report is expected within the next few weeks.Kevin Hague: Does he take ministerial responsibility for the action of DHB chief executive Debbie Chin who emailed more than 3000 DHB staff after Sam Fischer killed himself including detailed personal information that breached the confidentiality of both Sam and his mother?Hon Peseta SAM LOTU-IIGA: I have not seen the contents of that email so I cannot make any comment as to its veracity or what was in the email.Kevin Hague: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I appreciate that the Associate Minister is in a tricky position answering questions—Mr SPEAKER: What is the point of order?Kevin Hague: The point of order is that both this supplementary question and the previous one commenced with asking whether or not the Minister took ministerial responsibility. In neither case has he addressed that point.Mr SPEAKER: I considered both of those questions very carefully. I acknowledge they are difficult issues and difficult questions. On this occasion I think the Minister addressed both those questions to my satisfaction. [Interruption] Order! If I hear one more interjection today from the Hon Ruth Dyson I will be asking her to leave the Chamber. It has been constant throughout question time—once more and that will be it.Kevin Hague: How can the Minister retain confidence in Capital and Coast DHB when the latest figures show that 40 percent of children and young people needing mental health services were unable to get an appointment within 3 weeks and 80 did not even get seen within 8 weeks?Hon Peseta SAM LOTU-IIGA: That member knows that the funding for mental health services has gone up by over $300 million across New Zealand and that there is a ring-fencing of funding that goes to the district health board in order for the district health board to meet the mental health needs of that community.Kevin Hague: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. That answer did not address the question—Mr SPEAKER: I am afraid I think it did. The question asked how the Minister can retain confidence in the particular district health board. It gives the Minister a very wide ambit in answering the question. The member might not agree with it; I might not agree with it. I am not responsible for the answer but the question was certainly addressed.Kevin Hague: With five major independent reports on mental health failings in the last year ongoing issues with seclusion ombudsmen reports privacy complaints unreasonably long waiting times for young people and the largest number of suicides on record what possible excuse can the Minister now have for still blocking a nationwide urgent inquiry into mental health services?Hon Peseta SAM LOTU-IIGA: There are issues certainly within the Capital and Coast District Health Board. There are reviews that are going on. There are expectations set out for that district health board to report on its performance particularly in the area of mental health services but that should not result in a nationwide inquiry into mental health services."