'My daughter was very distressed by it'
And the case of a Dunedin company caught-up in money laundering allegations
Imagine it: your vulnerable daughter is in a mental health unit, and she tells you that men have been entering her room.
Staff confirm it, you become increasingly concerned for her - and others like her.
You contact a journalist and you tell your story. And then you wait.
You wait because the reporter needs to go to the Southern District Health Board for comment.
He did that on Friday morning, and still nothing.
Since that time the Southern DHB has issued several press releases, including one on the shiny new plans on its ‘world leading health precinct to transform central Dunedin’.
Nice. But the mother still waits.
I got sick of waiting, and after two days of no replies, I told the SDHB I was publishing.
The woman’s daughter, who is in her 20s, was one of only two female patients at Ward 9B at Wakari Hospital in Dunedin last month.
The other 15 patients were male, her mother, who has requested anonymity, said.
Issues at the ward included a male patient entering her room to fall asleep on her bed when she wasn’t there, while another man entered her room several times and threw her possessions around, also when she wasn't there.
The woman’s mother was told by staff that the man who entered her daughter's room was not dangerous or aggressive.
‘‘But I don’t think that is the point, my daughter was very distressed by it,’’ the mother, who would also make a complaint to the Health and Disability Commissioner, said.
Her daughter, who has been a victim of sexual assault, was upset over the incidents.
And for that voluntary patient, who was later transferred to another ward, it raises questions over mental health care - particularly that of women.
The mother wished there was an all-female mental health facility.
That formed one of the questions to the DHB.
Her mother noted that work was underway on the Dunedin Hospital rebuild, but believed mental health units should have been prioritised.
As part of its announcement on Friday, the Southern DHB unveiled the Health and Education Precinct, which includes emergency psychiatric services would be served by the new Dunedin Hospital development.
Wakari was considered a better location for long stay inpatient services than the inner city site, with the DHB ‘‘working on plans to improve the Wakari facilities’’, the DHB said.
However, Wakari Hospital, ‘‘in its current form, is not fit for purpose’’, the released documents say.
It comes after the Ombudsman released the findings of its investigation into a different ward, Ward 10A, a 12-bed medium-secure unit at Dunedin’s Wakari Hospital, in February.
Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier found the facility was in critical need of an upgrade and was creating a “volatile environment”.
That included housing male and female patients together.
Inspectors made unannounced site visits at the sites between March and June last year, under the Crimes of Torture Act 1989.
The environment was described by a staff member as a “disgrace”, and Boshier believed staff and patient safety was compromised.
I got a reply from SDHB on Wednesday afternoon.
Executive Director, Mental Health, Addictions and Intellectual Disability Services Toni Gutschlag said: ‘‘mixed male-female wards are standard practice across hospital inpatient wards, including mental health’’.
‘‘The gender mix changes almost on a daily basis as people are admitted and discharged within acute wards and this is consistent with all generalist wards within Southern DHB.’’
‘‘Most bedrooms in inpatient areas are able to be secured from the inside (which can only be over-ridden by staff) and female bedrooms are generally located in a specific area designated female only, or located closer to nursing stations where there are good lines of sight.’’
Meanwhile, the DHB fully recognises the issues with most inpatient wards on the Wakari site and was working internally and with the Ministry of Health to develop short and medium term plans to ensure the environments are fit for purpose.
It is of note that Ward 11 will close in the next 12-18 months with the establishment of a community-based residential facility, and Ward 9B is undergoing a significant restructure which will be completed by the end of this year.
One to watch.
Late last month a death notice caught my eye, that of Nicolaas Jan Francken, who died in Lower Hutt on April 15.
The death notice noted that he was involved in the restoration of Corstorphine House ‘and putting Dunedin on the map as a high end tourism destination’.
I interviewed ‘Nico’ a few times over the years, but more recently when he was caught-up in a case emerging weeks after the Panama Papers made world headlines.
I remember sitting in the High Court of Dunedin, at its temporary home on High St, when a curious case involving a Dunedin-based company, Guardian Fiduciary Trust Ltd was heard.
The case involved the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia seeking liquidation of the company over an unpaid amount of NZ$1,680,009.37.
It prompted former MP Ron Mark, then NZ First deputy leader, to say the country’s naive company formation process: ‘‘does nothing for New Zealand’s reputation’’.
New Zealand’s name is being dragged through the mud by dodgy bottom-feeding firms that are sheltering indicted criminals, money launderers and even gun runners, says New Zealand First.
This is where it gets complicated.
In 2012 the New Zealand company made a legal claim against the former Balkan country, alleging that country's Stopanska Banka closed its accounts after a United States investigation into money laundering.
The company rejected that allegation, and said the bank's move had caused damage to its business.
However a counter claim of US$600m - which was later reduced to US$20m - did not succeed when it went before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes.
The tribunal dismissed that claim over issues of lack of jurisdiction, awarding the former country over US$1m in legal fees.
That prompted the liquidation order in the New Zealand courts, but getting any back from the Dunedin-based trust, proved difficult.
"We never deal with clients which we consider involved with money laundering,’’ Francken said in 2016.
The last liquidator report noted that while the company was incorporated in New Zealand, ‘‘its activities and key governance officials were not’’.
That matter, after the death of Francken, will likely close.
I received a great press release from ‘Dunedin Cannabis’ reminding me this Saturday the Dunedin cannabis community would celebrate the 30th annual J Day, pitched as ‘‘a day of music, protest, information and friends reconnecting after COVID’’.
But it contains probably one of the best lines I’ve ever read.
‘‘This year we will be celebrating in the lower Octagon as the DCC have asked us to stay off the grass.’’
I’m still laughing.
A cool event this weekend is the Big Bike Giveway at Valley Workspace, at 11 Allen St in the N.E.V.
Valley Cycle Workshop is a volunteer-run, self-funded community bike workshop, which not recycles bicycles, as well as offering maintenance skills.
They currently have an excess supply of donated bikes. They are even offering material for building a ‘frankenbike’ if that is your thing.
The giveaway will be held on Saturday May 7, and most bikes will require some work to be rideable. They will even provide a helpful checklist for those keen on taking a bike.
But there is a limit of one bike per person.
ICYMI: I covered a couple of court cases this week, including the sentencing of Luke Lambert. Here is a backgrounder written after watching a video of the incident. It was a shocking watch, but clear that the actions of two off-duty police officers were critical in saving lives.
I visited the always excellent Toitū over the weekend, and my youngest was pleased to get back on the tram, previously off-limits due to Covid.
Bring. Them. Back.
It brings me to a great 1947 video shot by Dunedin amateur film maker William Hood Davidson (1894-1979) of the Kaikorai cable tramway service.
That service ended in 1947. The video is part of the Hocken Archives.
Another highlight from Toitū was hearing this song blast out.
My Tweet of the Week goes to my favourite account:
It simply lets me know when the Interntational Space Station (ISS) is above the city. and what better night to gaze at the stars than May the Fourth . . .
Have a great week.