NICKY STEVENS – 2 YEARS AFTER HIS DEATH WHILE IN THE ‘CARE’ OF WAIKATO DHB, WHAT HAS HAPPENED?
• On 9th March 2015, Nicky disappeared from Waikato Hospital’s Henry Bennett Centre, after being let outside on a cigarette break – unescorted and unsupervised, and after repeated warnings by family and friends that he was a high suicide risk.
• These warnings, and even instructions by management not to give unsupervised leave to Nicky, were ignored by HBC staff, who were short-staffed, broke patient leave procedures and who, in some cases walked by Nicky while he was outside his ward in a clearly disturbed state.
• Nicky was in ‘compulsory inpatient’ care, placed there by a DHB psychiatrist after an earlier suicide attempt.
• Nicky’s body was found in the nearby Waikato River 3 days later.
• Police took over 2 days to start a ‘missing persons’ search for Nicky, and have been roundly criticised by the Independent Police Conduct Authority – Police have accepted all criticism, and changed procedures to try and ensure no repeats.
• Nicky’s family – mother Jane, father Dave and brother Tony – have publicly campaigned to find answers to what went wrong with Nicky’s care, who was responsible, and to improve the terrible state of NZ’s mental health system.
• Nicky’s family asked the DHB to fund their legal representation for the Coroner’s hearing into his death – the DHB refused, so the family is having to do that itself, while the DHB, DHB staff, Police, and the Coroner himself are all represented by highly-paid, taxpayer-funded lawyers.
• Two years after Nicky’s death, the Coroner’s hearing has yet to begin.
• The Police investigated the cause of Nicky’s death, and got an independent psychiatrist to review the DHB’s actions – they found that no individual was responsible, but will not release the files to Nicky’s family until the Coroner agrees – he has refused to date, because the DHB and DHB staff lawyers have put up roadblocks.
• Nicky’s father, Dave, ran for election to the Waikato DHB in October 2016, and was comfortably elected on a platform of improving the regions mental health care services.
• Nicky’s mother Jane has joined a Waikato DHB working group looking at an improved ‘model of care’ and improved facilities for the DHB’s mental health services.
• The DHB, after 18 months, ran an in-house ‘serious incident review’ into Nicky’s death. On the day before Xmas 2016, they released the report – showing multiple policy and good practice errors, but concluded that Nicky’s care “was of a good standard.”
• Nicky’s family, and most of the western world, have rejected that finding as ridiculous, and asked how an avoidable patient death equates to a ‘good standard’ of care?
• Nicky’s family, and a large number of people and organisations around the country, are pressing the Government for a full, independent enquiry.into the state of mental health care; Health Minister Jonathon Coleman continues to ‘bravely’ reject that call.
Dave Macpherson is The Daily Blog’s mental health blogger. He ran for and won a seat on the Waikato DHB after losing his son to mental health incompetence.
“Health Minister Jonathon Coleman continues to ‘bravely’ reject that call.”
Coleman is about as brave as the rock that sits in my garden. It just sits there doing nothing!
Yep, and the rock is completely naked, but thinks he’s clothed!
Thanks for keeping us updated, and for your continued advocacy in the area, Dave.
I read your stories, Dave, and have some understanding what you’ve gone through. Someone close to me also had to access mental health services, and we quickly came to realise what a haphazard mess it was.
At one point I had to phone the Minister’s office and politely suggested that if my friend killed herself because of stress from WINZ, that I’d be chatting to the media very quickly, and sheeting home blame to the Minister.
That seemed to get the attention of the Minister and WINZ area manager. (Any “success” was, at best, “mixed”.)
I’ve also heard you on Radio NZ, criticising DHB No-Smoking policies as detrimental to many mental health patients. (For many patients, smoking appears to have a calming effect.) But the No-Smoking policy had a perverse effect of forcing patients to leave hospital grounds (where they were in a safe place) out onto the street.
At Te Whare Uhuru (Lower Hutt), for a while, smoking on the grounds outside, was permitted, with a nurse escort. This worked well, ensuring no one absconded or wandered of in a confused state.
Then that policy changed (staffing level problems?) and patients were left to wander out, at will.
There is much to do to fix mental health systems in this country. An incoming Labour-Green(-NZ First?) government will have it’s work cut out.
(PS: My friend got through it, despite some pretty amateurish “support” from Taranaki health services. According to her, Whanganui has better services.)
We live in a country that has deserted it’s ill, weak & venerable.
Shame on the Nactional Government again!@!!!
We need to remove them this year from Governance.
Tis a symptom of a greater problem. (Think of the recent Bremner multiple deaths)
The fact is that our Mental Health system is dysfunctional.
It is very hard for family members to be admitted.
Those who are so psychotic that they do get admitted drugged up and kicked out 2 days later. In addition there is no accountability for when things go wrong.
It has been like this since the late 80’s when all the Mental Health institutions were shut down.
I have spoken to ex Mental Health nurses who told me of the old programs that patients underwent.
People who were suffering severe mental health episodes were admitted for a 6 month course of treatment, reassessed, and readmitted if not competent to live in the community.
This gave time for patients to adjust to a positive daily routine and provided a secure and safe environment where they could receive proper care.
The mess described above will continue until the government realizes that they need to open up modern, new, safe, rural facilities to provide the same care.
Anything else is just plastering over a festering national sore.
This tragedy would not have happened if the secure, ventilated smoking areas were still available. In many units they still are, but patients aren’t allowed to smoke in them. Hospital boards have been taken over by the anti-smoking moral crusade, banning smoking against the advice of staff who work there. I’m so angry about this, there seems to be no changing it.