Bradford Sue: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
Bradford Sue: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
[Volume:613;Page:9925] 
4.  
SUE BRADFORD (Green) 
 to the  
Minister of Health 
: Is she confident that patients and staff are safe in psychiatric units around New Zealand including those in the Taharoto unit on Auckland’s North Shore? 
Hon ANNETTE KING (Minister of Health) 
: 
 I am confident that patients and staff in psychiatric units are generally safe. However there will always be times when patients are very unwell that both patients and staff face risks. I am advised that the Waitemata District Health Board adheres to national standards of safety and follows best practice to minimise those risks. 
Sue Bradford 
: Is the Minister aware of a number of recent serious incidents at the Taharoto this year including one in which a female staff member was held hostage by a patient with a knife; and why are such incidents not being properly reported and dealt with by police and health and safety officials? 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: Yes I am aware of recent incidents within the inpatient unit at Taharoto. As the member is probably aware the Waitemata District Health Board has initiated a review of that which it hopes to have available in early December. There has been wide consultation with staff and consumers and the results and the recommendations will be shared with all interested parties. Having said that I know the member is aware that within inpatient mental health services we have some very seriously unwell people and at times staff are required to be put in positions where they are at risk. Although the services try to minimise that as much as possible a risk always exists within mental health units. 
Dr Paul Hutchison 
: Why did the Minister promise more nurses therapists and beds for acute mental health services in June yet the result at the Taharoto acute mental health unit was a cut-back from 41 to 35 beds; and even if the beds are restored how can anyone have confidence in the mental health system when the Minister does the opposite of what she says? 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: Quite to the contrary. I have increased mental health funding across the whole of the Auckland region—a part of New Zealand that was starved of mental health funds for years. That there may not be beds in one unit—an old unit in Auckland—does not mean that other new beds have not been and are not being opened. That is exactly what is happening in Auckland. Thank goodness this Government has shifted money into the Auckland area because it was not funded to anywhere near the level of funding of the South Island and the lower North Island. 
Sue Bradford 
: Is it true that as I have been reliably informed around three-quarters of the staff or more at the Taharoto unit on weekends are actually bureau casuals; if so does she believe that that is a safe way to operate an acute unit especially given what she has just told me earlier and in the light of the findings of the Buckle inquiry released yesterday which dealt with some of the same matters? 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: The Buckle inquiry and many other inquiries over the years have shown us one continuing problem—that is a shortage of people prepared to work in mental health services. Staff training and retention are very high priorities. In fact some of the additional money we have put into mental health services has been earmarked for wages services and training for mental health staff. I am pleased to say that the latest report of the Mental Health Commission shows there has been an increase in the mental health workforce in New Zealand within both inpatient and community services but we still have some way to go to have the staff we need. 
Sue Bradford 
: When will the Government stop reviewing the situation at the Waitemata District Health Board and its mental health services and instead deal effectively with those who it appears are refusing to take immediate action to improve what is in fact a critically desperate situation at the Taharoto unit? 
Hon ANNETTE KING 
: As I said in my first answer to the member one of the things the staff wanted was a review of staff safety. So I am not quite sure whether the member did not want that to happen—the staff certainly did. As I said the staff will be advised of the review outcome in early December.