Unannounced follow up inspection of Tāwhirimātea Rehabilitation Unit, Rātonga-Rua-O-Porirua
Excerpt
On 24 June, and from 1 to 3 July 2024, a team of two Inspectors, who were delegated authority to carry out visits to places of detention under the Crimes of Torture Act, 1989 (COTA), made an unannounced three-day visit as part of the follow-up inspection to Tāwhirimātea Inpatient Unit (the Unit), Rātonga-Rua-O-Porirua, an acute inpatient mental health unit. Inspectors were guided by our Expectations for conditions and treatment of tāngata whai ora in health and disability places of detention.
The inspection was to follow up on the 11 recommendations made in the 2021 report following the previous inspection conducted in 2020. Capital & Coast District Health Board (the DHB) accepted 10 of these recommendations and rejected one.
Follow up inspections of Rangipapa and Pūrehurehu Units at the Rātonga-Rua-O-Porirua campus were also completed during June and July 2024.
Inspectors gathered and assessed a range of information. This included reviewing documents, interviewing a number of people, and observing facility activities. Before leaving the Unit, inspectors met with Unit management and some members of the Regional Rehabilitation and Extended Care Inpatient Service’s management to outline their initial observations.
We have also actively engaged with Management of Regional Forensic and Rehabilitation Inpatient Services regarding concerns identified at the time of the inspection about the care and long-term placement of a tangata whai ora. A letter was sent on 23 January 2025 outlining these concerns. A response was received on 28 February 2025 that provided further information about the situation and outlined some improvements the Service was making. However, we were not assured that there had been significant change to the treatment and conditions for this tangata whai ora. As a result, two inspectors returned to the Unit on 23 June 2025 to conduct an unannounced visit to view what effect the changes had made and relevant observations are included in this report.