Hospital wins mental health boost

A new 40-bed mental health unit will be built at Waitakere Hospital to replace the existing 32-bed facility which is cramped, poorly lit and affords patients and families little privacy.

Health Minister Annette King, who announced $15 million in funding for the project yesterday, said the Te Atarau unit had been the subject of complaints by staff, patients, families and caregivers almost from day one.

"To say it hasn't stood the test of time is an understatement. When I visited the facility last year, I was impressed by the dedication of staff working in the unit, but I was dismayed by the conditions in which they were working and in which patients were receiving treatment." Ms King said the floor area of Te Atarau, which was built quickly 12 years ago after mental health services were de-institutionalised, was too small for the number of beds and the standard of construction was not appropriate for an acute mental health unit.

The new facility would be roomier, allow patients to be separated by gender and the seriousness of their illness, and provide greater privacy for visiting friends and relatives. It would also encourage retention and recruitment of staff.

The Waitemata District Health Board's mental health services came under fire after Lachlan Jones killed his flatmate, Malcolm Beggs, with a knife and axe in 1999. Jones, a paranoid schizophrenic, had discharged himself from Te Atarau against medical advice. Mr Beggs was not told of Jones' serious illness by mental health workers, who left medication with him to pass on to Jones.

Auckland coroner Mate Frankovich said failures within the mental health system had led to the murder-suicide. The case led, in part, to a review of information sharing by mental health services.

Yesterday Waitemata District Health Board chief executive Dwayne Crombie said the hospital's mental health services were much stronger than three years ago because of factors such as staff recruitment, better facilities and the establishment of a regional director of mental health services.

"If systems are under pressure, morale is down, you have poor facilities, people are not talking to each other, it makes the risk higher. We are trying to make a system with less risk but you can't remove all the risk."

Dr Crombie said a decision had not been made about what would happen to Te Atarau when the new facility opened in the first half of 2007.