FAMILY ANGRY WITH LACK OF HELP FOR DRUG ADDICTED DAUGHTER

A Rotorua family are furious they had to take their suicidal,
drug-induced daughter home as there is no crisis care available in the city.

She did not qualify for psychiatric care at Rotorua Hospital because
she had a drug problem, not a mental health problem, and other
services told her parents there would be a minimum one-month wait for
inpatient rehabilitation services because there were no beds
immediately available.

A crisis counsellor is available through Te Utuhina Manaakitanga
Trust Alcohol and Drug Counselling Service in Rotorua with a minimum
wait of an hour - but only between 8.30am and 4.30pm Monday to Friday
and only if the person is not under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Lakes District Health Board pays for beds at rehabilitation units in
other centres but a counsellor says there is always a wait because
people have to be certain they want the treatment.

The Rotorua parents took their daughter to Rotorua Hospital's
psychiatric ward because she was high on methamphetamine and
threatening to kill herself and others. Staff would not accept her
because she was violent and said there were no beds available. They
recommended going to the police.

The parents who did not believe that was appropriate said they would
have if the situation had become worse. They believed there should
have been somewhere available to help them and are calling for
appropriate services to be established locally.

They called residential facilities to get treatment for their
daughter but faced a month-long wait.

Lakes District Health Board communications officer Sue Wilkie said
she could not speak about the case and no complaint had been received.

Services were available to drug addicts wanting help but a place for
people to undergo a detox process wasn't always necessary, she said.

The health board funded one bed in Auckland and there were
residential facilities in Hawke's Bay which took Lakes people, she said.

While methamphetamine use was a growing concern, the problem was
"probably not big enough" to warrant a detox facility in the Lakes
area specifically for methamphetamine services, she said.

However, health boards in the Central North Island were looking at
establishing a regional service to replace Kahunui Residential Drug
and Alcohol Service in Opotiki, which closed last year. It was the
region's only residential service.

Miss Wilkie said the new service could cater for both medical and
social detoxification.

However, the Lakes health board's policy was that anyone threatening
violence be referred to police.

Te Utuhina Manaakitanga Trust Alcohol and Drug Counselling Service
clinical manager Donna Blair said it was unrealistic for families to
expect to get in to a residential centre immediately. "It's just not
a reality."

She said because the health board funded beds, Lakes patients often
were able to get a bed within two weeks - compared with much longer
waiting times for Auckland patients.

There was always a waiting period because people had to be ready and
willing to undergo treatment and to have first considered that option
carefully, Ms Blair said.

Police were better equipped to deal with those who were under the
influence of drugs, she said.

Rotorua police area commander Inspector Bruce Horne said police dealt
with a lot of people under the influence of alcohol, drugs or who had
mental health issues - sometimes a combination of all three.

Mr Horne said a mental health nurse based at the police station
assessed the best place for people to go and sometimes they would
spend a few hours at the police station until they were able to be
transferred to the hospital.