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Hillmorton’s Tupuna mental health unit to close

Kristie Boland

A decision has been made to close an in-patient mental health unit at Christchurch’s Hillmorton Hospital because it had only 52% of the staff it needed.

According to Te Whatu Ora, the decision to close the 15-bed Tupuna ward was made following a consultation process during which feedback was received from 47 submitters.

Tupuna is an in-patient extended care unit that provides 24-hour care and support for people with mental health issues who require a longer stay than what the acute inpatient unit can provide.

Staff and the nine tā ngata whaiora (people seeking wellness) currently receiving care at Tupuna have been informed of this decision, said Dr Greg Hamilton, Canterbury general manager for specialist mental health service at Te Whatu Ora.

‘‘The focus is now on supporting staff to transition to new roles within the Specialist Mental Health Service and working closely with tāngata whaiora and their whānau to find alternative care and support options both in the community or in other inpatient services,’’ Hamilton said. ‘‘There is no fixed timeframe for tā ngata whaiora to move, it will happen over coming weeks to ensure services are well-matched to people’s needs.’’

Tupuna’s bed numbers have already been reduced this year because of short staffing. The unit currently has 13.6 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff and has been relying on casual staff and nurses working additional duties to staff the unit.

‘‘Despite staff’s best efforts, we acknowledge that we haven’t been able to provide consistent staffing due to workforce challenges that are impacting all our services,’’ Hamilton said.

The building where Tupuna was located would be ‘‘refreshed’’ and was expected to accommodate up to 16 patients by the end of August 2023 in a ‘‘more contemporary environment’’, he said.

The new model of care for acute in-patients across the continuum of adult care was yet to be finalised, he said. ‘‘It’s planned that this unit will continue to be one of three in-patient facilities on the Hillmorton campus available for those needing adult inpatient care.’’

Meanwhile, an extra $51m was promised this week for a new 80-bed unit at the mental health facility. The Government put aside $78.3m for the new adult acute in-patient unit in this year’s budget. It announced on Wednesday that it had granted the project final approval and boosted the budget to $129.3m.

‘‘This is the second stage of Hillmorton’s major infrastructure redevelopment programme and is one of the largest investments ever made in New Zealand’s mental health infrastructure in history,’’ Health Minister Andrew Little said.

The new unit was part of a wider plan to make improvements at Hillmorton – previously described by staff as ‘‘horrible’’, prison-like and the opposite of a therapeutic environment. It would offer modern facilities to replace the Te Awakura unit (adult acute mental health), medical detox and psychiatric service for adults with an intellectual disability, Little said.

Hamilton said work on Building 12, which will house adult in-patients moving from Princess Margaret Hospital, was on track for completion next year.

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2022-12-03T08:00:00.0000000Z

2022-12-03T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://fairfaxmedia.pressreader.com/article/281599539523437

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