Damning report into NZ's mental health units prompts Chief Ombudsman's demand for answers

New Zealand's Chief Ombudsman is demanding answers after a damning report into the nation's mental health units.

The report found two facilities were breaching the United Nations convention against cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

Peter Boshier told TVNZ1's Breakfast today that some facilities used exclusion zones as accommodation, while others forced patients to use a cardboard box as a toilet.

"It's not as if these are people where you might think there's a deserving notion of punishment," he said, emphasising that they are not prisons. "These are people who could be your relative, or your friend, or my relative, or my friend."

Watch the full interview in the video above.