WARNING: This story contains distressing themes.
A severe incident, like the unprovoked attack on a Nelson woman at the hands of a psychotic man, will be repeated if mental health units aren't properly resourced, the Public Service Association warns.
Sarah Preece's world was shattered the day she was attacked and raped at home by a stranger.
In the nearly two years since, she's been trying to piece together how it could have happened.
Her perpetrator, in a psychotic state, had sought help from Nelson Hospital only hours earlier.
“The DHB has treated me as somebody that doesn’t matter,” Ms Preece told TVNZ’s Sunday programme .
Nelson Marlborough District Health Board’s Chief Medical Officer Nick Baker acknowledges the “tragic events shouldn't have happened”.
The attacker was diagnosed with being in a psychotic state before the vicious attack.
Yet the union representing mental health workers is concerned they'll only be repeated.
“There would have been some changes they've made to try and ensure that things like this don't happen again,” said PSA National Organiser Ashok Shankar.
“But the thing that has not changed is the numbers of people that are employed - the additional resources that need to go and has not gone in."
The Nelson Marlborough District Health Board began reviewing its services back in 2016, more than a year before the attack.
The PSA fought against a roster reshuffle of the community mental health teams and called for more workers to be recruited instead. Currently, there are 10 people in the CAT team, with two on duty at any point in time.
“The turnover of staff has been horrendous in the last 18 months, where almost 80 per cent of the workforce has changed,” Mr Shankar said.
After Ms Preece shared her story with Sunday, a Nelson man contacted TVNZ with concerns about his recent experience at Nelson’s emergency department.
“About 15 minutes after we got there, we saw the police bring in a young woman. She looked quite distressed. They went to the reception and I overheard the police officer talking quite loudly to them about the fact she was suicidal and her family were very concerned for her safety," the man said.
He said the woman was made to sit in the waiting room “for approximately two hours before I went in for treatment. At that point she hadn't been seen or spoken to by anyone”.
Dr Baker couldn’t comment on the specifics of the situation, but told 1 NEWS there are changes underway to assess a wide range of needs presented at ED.
“One of the things we're working on is piloting a new resource to enhance the observations of people who may be at the risk of mental health deteriorations," he said.
The number of staff hasn't changed since the September 2017 attack, but Dr Baker believes solutions aren't in numbers, but in how care is administered.
It means that although the DHB is waiting to see where earmarked government funding for mental health will go, its general focus will be to “try and support people, obviously with instant crises but we’ve also got to help those with chronic ongoing conditions”.
Sarah Preece says the DHB has left her hurting “where they could and should have tried to help and heal me”.
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