Nelson MP Nick Smith is calling on local hospital bosses to formally apologise to a Nelson woman who was brutally attacked in her home by a stranger after a mental health crisis team failed to care for him.
Sarah Preece applied to have her name suppression lifted so she could share details of the September 2017 incident and her subsequent dealings with Nelson Marlborough District Health Board.
"They were completely and utterly uncooperative," she told TVNZ1’s SUNDAY programme.
Nelson MP Nick Smith says, "it is time for the DHB to admit its services failed that day.
"The first failure was in not admitting Jacob Jensen to hospital when he was presenting to the emergency department in a clearly psychotic state.
The issue is in the spotlight after a woman was raped by a man who went to a Nelson hospital seeking psychiatric treatment.
"The second failure was in the inadequate review of the case. A third failure has been the Health Board repeatedly declining information on their handling of the case, citing privacy laws.
"The rights of the innocent to know what occurred in a case like this must override those of the offender."
In an interview with 1 NEWS on Monday , Nelson Marlborough DHB Chief Medical Officer Dr Nick Baker said the events were "tragic" and "should never have happened".
But he said the DHB’s hands were tied.
"At the moment, we aren’t able to disclose information around perpetrators to victims because that would be outside the law.
"Really, when it comes to victims’ rights, we can only act within the law and maybe this case has thrown up some issues around ‘what are the rights of victims versus perpetrators?’" he said.
The DHB has been approached for comment in response to Nick Smith’s comments.
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