Secret probe of Hutt mental health

Secret probe of Hutt mental health

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/4555042/Secret-probe-of-Hutt-mental-health

KATE NEWTON AND JULIE ASH - Last updated 05:00 19/01/2011.

"A secret government inquiry is under way into treatment blunders and leadership problems within Hutt Valley's mental health services.
Leaked documents show the Health Ministry's mental health director, David Chaplow, ordered the investigation in June, but both the ministry and Hutt Valley District Health Board have kept it under wraps since.
In a letter to then-Hutt Valley chief executive Michael Hundleby, Dr Chaplow said he was ordering the inquiry under section 95 of the Mental Health Act after being made aware of problems with the service.
"There are two main areas of concern – the leadership of the mental health services, and a number of clinical issues presenting as `complaints' involving individual patients, which may, in turn, be related to the leadership issue or to wider systemic issues."
The service has come under fire three times in the past year from Wellington's coroners. The latest was last Tuesday, when coroner Ian Smith released findings into the death of Upper Hutt man Jerry Korewha.
Fi Perez, whose husband Jerome, 40, killed himself in March 2008, welcomed the inquiry. Mrs Perez tried for six months to get help for her husband, a long-time bipolar sufferer, before he died.
She said it was "fabulous" that an inquiry was taking place. "Too many people have died.
"The one thing that has really grated [with] me ... is that the district health board's response each time is that `We have made changes'. Well, Jerome died in 2008 and the next guy died in 2009 ... so that's just rubbish."
The inquiry is being carried out independently by Barry Wilson, a mental health district inspector and lawyer from Auckland. District inspectors are appointed by the Health Ministry to investigate complaints, conduct inquiries and inspect mental health services.
Deputy mental health director Susanna Every-Palmer said the inquiry – which covers the two years from June 2008 – was now well under way and the ministry expected to receive the completed report in a few months.
It was ordered after Wellington's five mental health district inspectors raised concerns, she said. "The clinical [concerns] are similar to those that have been reported in the public domain, such as in coroners' reports."
She would not provide specific details, saying patient privacy needed to be protected, and could not confirm whether the completed report would be made public. Section 95 inquiries were not normally announced publicly, she said.
Before the inquiry was ordered, the district health board insisted it had made improvements to the mental health service, including a major restructuring in late 2009.

Acting chief operating officer Toni Atkinson said the health board viewed the current inquiry as a "quality improvement opportunity" and believed recent changes had addressed historical problems.
"The DHB ... is fully committed to implementing any recommendations."
Dr Every-Palmer said the ministry believed the health board was trying hard and there had been significant management changes already. "However, in June we did have concerns."
Those They Failed
James Barnden, 31, died in 2007 after administrative bungles at Hutt Hospital. The Stokes Valley man went to an appointment at the hospital on June 11. Christine McCarrison, the specialist meant to see him, was unaware of the appointment. Only Andrew Green, a second-year WelTec student working as a trainee, was present. He told the inquest he felt he could not turn Mr Barnden away, so assessed him, noting he had been thinking about suicide. Mr Green did not complete a risk assessment, made a second appointment for June 26 and put the file in his pigeonhole without reporting to Ms McCarrison or Mr Barnden's GP. Two days before the second appointment, Mr Barnden's mother found him dead.
Depressed Lower Hutt man Jerome Perez killed himself in March 2008 after waiting months for a respite placement. The 40-year-old had struggled for years with bipolar disorder. His wife, Fi Perez, begged the health board for about six months to provide him with care and accommodation. When that did not work the pair decided to fake their separation. Mr Perez killed himself three weeks later. His death prompted Wellington coroner Ian Smith to call for improvements to temporary care facilities in the Hutt Valley health district. The DHB admitted that Mr Perez was denied respite care because of a lack of facilities.
Upper Hutt's Jerry Korewha had chronic depression when he was hit on State Highway 2 near Upper Hutt, after smoking marijuana, in March 2009. His death was not found to be suicide, though the possibility existed. A former Mongrel Mob member, Mr Korewha was well known to police and was under post-detention conditions for a drink-driving conviction when he died. As part of those conditions, he was referred to the DHB, which missed his recent history of chronic depression and put him through four alcohol and drug treatment sessions instead. The coroner found the DHB failed to complete a "simple" check, did not follow its own protocols and may have had a management-level breakdown when it misdiagnosed Mr Korewha."
- The Dominion Post
Ends.

Paddy.

Hopefully the inquiry simply doesn't sweep the problems under the carpet again. The people who have been let down by the service need to have their voices heard so that REAL improvements are made. I'm guessing that the inquiry won't speak to any of the families of the suicides...that might give them an insight to the actual damage done by the incompetence