A report by Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier has found Māori are over-represented in seclusion statistics at Palmerston North Hospital's mental health ward.
File image: Palmerston North Hospital Photo: RNZ / Jimmy Ellingham
The report, published today, shows that in the six months to 30 April last year, 14 out of 20 seclusions at the ward involved Māori.
Boshier said that amounted to 70 percent of seclusions, despite Māori making up only 38 percent of patients on the ward.
"The Ministry of Health needs to look at why this is occurring. Only last week I highlighted the same issue in a report on a mental health unit in Bay of Plenty, and last year the issue also arose at another facility in Whanganui," he said.
"It is my view that seclusion - putting someone alone in a space from which they cannot freely leave - has little therapeutic value and as a practice, should be declining. Instead, it appears, at least for Māori, to be increasing."
Boshier has made 17 recommendations, including the upgrade of the seclusion area.
A replacement ward is being designed and Boshier recommended officials urgently progress work on the new facility.
It was initially meant to open later this year, but as RNZ revealed today, that has been pushed back at least a year.
"The conditions at this facility are what I would describe as poor, for reasons that include being at capacity or over-capacity at times and a dreary physical environment, particularly in the crowded and noisy high needs unit.
"The [MidCentral District Health Board] has accepted the ward conditions are no longer fit for purpose, and staff said they hoped the new building would lead to a significant improvements for patients."