The Waikato Hospital inquiry exposed catastrophic failures. It also revealed what happens when disability support, mental health services, and healthcare are stretched far beyond their limits.
Thank you, Bex, for a powerful article. Your empathy shines through, and I can understand why it took so long to write. This is the kind of nightmare no parent should ever have to face, whether their child has a disability or not.
Nor should chemical restraint be treated as the first or routine response to the distress or behaviour of any adult, whatever their age or circumstances.
I cannot help thinking this is not simply the product of the current Coalition Government’s nearly three years in office, but the cumulative result of decades of under-resourcing across a range of interconnected systems. It also reflects policies developed in silos, without enough recognition of their upstream and downstream effects on people, families and communities.
Waiting for the foreseeable to happen, particularly when warnings have already been raised, as your article shows, is not an acceptable way to govern. Nor should politicians and government officials act surprised when the consequences emerge, before shifting responsibility or blame elsewhere.
Unless we see a fundamental shift away from the neoliberal policy settings of the past 30 plus years, including major tax reforms that reduce inequity and provide governments with the revenue needed to invest properly in essential public services, I fear that no amount of political concern or apology, welcome though they are, will be enough to prevent this kind of abuse from happening again.
That, to me, is the real issue. No single political party appears to have all the answers. We need to make decisions that consider not only the needs of people today, but also the wellbeing of all our children and future generations, while ensuring we care properly for people in our communities right now.
While it is not a complete solution, I find Ganesh Ahirao’s proposed amendment to the Public Finance Act compelling. Requiring governments to apply a future generations lens to fiscal and monetary policy could help encourage the longer term thinking that is too often missing from political decision making.
I'm going to suggest that the problems are in the NZ healthCARE system's foundation.
And in society in general the fear of " others" has increased and the otherness is always more pronounced in those different not understood( disabled ) . An inner shift from fear to love is needed as we cant continue with the corporate culture.
Politics (private equity and insurance) should never be the driver for healthcare or medicine and yet it has been. The State's national socialist economics of medicine , cost cutting obsession, sick ideology , since the 90s govt management of our hospitals . Govt makes funding decisions.
The 90s national socialist economic movement( if you cant work you are not valued by govt) also coincided with the shitification of ACC and MSD (once people with got injury care, medical treatments and rehab now they are routinely denied it).
In ICU instead of pain relief they used restraints on me, i got forced medication on benzos when bleeding into my brain and CCDHB and ACC also denied me extended ICU care, orthopedic stabilization neuro care all needed urgent life saving treatments, assaulted me , forced me to mobilize, with a multi fractured spine ribs shoulder arm pelvis they wanted to murder me! this continued for years even when ACC said I could work ....because I am disabled.
When I cant speak( periodic spoken aphasia since the 2006 sTBI) the medical providers didnt care and they(ACC + CCDHB PHO ) who would not provide injury care even developed in 2024 what they called a "communication plan" that tried to force me to stop writing my communication!( I am very good writing my self advocacy out after 20years of the State ACC CCDHB direct discrimination and torture).
Thanks for pointing out Bex the State system is bullying disabled people, State and its so called watchdog orgs (HRC HDC) fail in their duty when it happens.
Awareness is key and we dont want any people, especially vulnerable, being abused.
Insightfully powerful Dr Bex. Paul is right, we need a political system that prioritises people over profits. Where do we get one of those? Rhetorical.
Its definetly rough to write about and read about, Ive tried to write about my experience as a 12 year old autistic girl brought into the system that parallels with this girl but it has so far caused chest tightening and hard to keep the memories separate from the here and now, im 36 now and still running from it in my mind
I hear you on the chest tightening. It feels like a fallen tree across my chest sometimes, making it so very hard to breathe. I am thankful for all the friends that supporters that lift that log and give me room to breathe and think and write.
It's not just disabled children or adults they inject with these anti-psychotic drugs - I remember my 95 year old grandad who had a fever causing delusions having this sort of medication. My mum was so mad.
🥹 It is extremely distressing to imagine loved ones being subjected to similar treatment to that 11yr old, no matter what the reasoning. And although the vulnerability of the young & the fragile is horrific, my autistic real life examples are large/tall males and I shudder to think what solutions would be applied to THEM as well if they were deemed in need of "controlling/subduing" by Police or over-stretched medical staff 🤢 Adequately funded & resourced organisations have TIME to recognise what is being dealt with, and TIME & EXPERTISE to often handle without needing drastic interventions. The solution is known, but the political will is required to prioritise adequate funding over dubious financial statistical gobbledygook that benefits no-one but the "wealthy & sorted" & their ideological masters 🤬 at the expense of all of society, but particularly those who are vulnerable for whatever reason ...
Thank you, Bex, for a powerful article. Your empathy shines through, and I can understand why it took so long to write. This is the kind of nightmare no parent should ever have to face, whether their child has a disability or not.
Nor should chemical restraint be treated as the first or routine response to the distress or behaviour of any adult, whatever their age or circumstances.
I cannot help thinking this is not simply the product of the current Coalition Government’s nearly three years in office, but the cumulative result of decades of under-resourcing across a range of interconnected systems. It also reflects policies developed in silos, without enough recognition of their upstream and downstream effects on people, families and communities.
Waiting for the foreseeable to happen, particularly when warnings have already been raised, as your article shows, is not an acceptable way to govern. Nor should politicians and government officials act surprised when the consequences emerge, before shifting responsibility or blame elsewhere.
Unless we see a fundamental shift away from the neoliberal policy settings of the past 30 plus years, including major tax reforms that reduce inequity and provide governments with the revenue needed to invest properly in essential public services, I fear that no amount of political concern or apology, welcome though they are, will be enough to prevent this kind of abuse from happening again.
That, to me, is the real issue. No single political party appears to have all the answers. We need to make decisions that consider not only the needs of people today, but also the wellbeing of all our children and future generations, while ensuring we care properly for people in our communities right now.
While it is not a complete solution, I find Ganesh Ahirao’s proposed amendment to the Public Finance Act compelling. Requiring governments to apply a future generations lens to fiscal and monetary policy could help encourage the longer term thinking that is too often missing from political decision making.
I'm going to suggest that the problems are in the NZ healthCARE system's foundation.
And in society in general the fear of " others" has increased and the otherness is always more pronounced in those different not understood( disabled ) . An inner shift from fear to love is needed as we cant continue with the corporate culture.
Politics (private equity and insurance) should never be the driver for healthcare or medicine and yet it has been. The State's national socialist economics of medicine , cost cutting obsession, sick ideology , since the 90s govt management of our hospitals . Govt makes funding decisions.
The 90s national socialist economic movement( if you cant work you are not valued by govt) also coincided with the shitification of ACC and MSD (once people with got injury care, medical treatments and rehab now they are routinely denied it).
In ICU instead of pain relief they used restraints on me, i got forced medication on benzos when bleeding into my brain and CCDHB and ACC also denied me extended ICU care, orthopedic stabilization neuro care all needed urgent life saving treatments, assaulted me , forced me to mobilize, with a multi fractured spine ribs shoulder arm pelvis they wanted to murder me! this continued for years even when ACC said I could work ....because I am disabled.
When I cant speak( periodic spoken aphasia since the 2006 sTBI) the medical providers didnt care and they(ACC + CCDHB PHO ) who would not provide injury care even developed in 2024 what they called a "communication plan" that tried to force me to stop writing my communication!( I am very good writing my self advocacy out after 20years of the State ACC CCDHB direct discrimination and torture).
Thanks for pointing out Bex the State system is bullying disabled people, State and its so called watchdog orgs (HRC HDC) fail in their duty when it happens.
Awareness is key and we dont want any people, especially vulnerable, being abused.
Insightfully powerful Dr Bex. Paul is right, we need a political system that prioritises people over profits. Where do we get one of those? Rhetorical.
Its definetly rough to write about and read about, Ive tried to write about my experience as a 12 year old autistic girl brought into the system that parallels with this girl but it has so far caused chest tightening and hard to keep the memories separate from the here and now, im 36 now and still running from it in my mind
I hear you on the chest tightening. It feels like a fallen tree across my chest sometimes, making it so very hard to breathe. I am thankful for all the friends that supporters that lift that log and give me room to breathe and think and write.
It's not just disabled children or adults they inject with these anti-psychotic drugs - I remember my 95 year old grandad who had a fever causing delusions having this sort of medication. My mum was so mad.
Yip on the vulnerable .
🥹 It is extremely distressing to imagine loved ones being subjected to similar treatment to that 11yr old, no matter what the reasoning. And although the vulnerability of the young & the fragile is horrific, my autistic real life examples are large/tall males and I shudder to think what solutions would be applied to THEM as well if they were deemed in need of "controlling/subduing" by Police or over-stretched medical staff 🤢 Adequately funded & resourced organisations have TIME to recognise what is being dealt with, and TIME & EXPERTISE to often handle without needing drastic interventions. The solution is known, but the political will is required to prioritise adequate funding over dubious financial statistical gobbledygook that benefits no-one but the "wealthy & sorted" & their ideological masters 🤬 at the expense of all of society, but particularly those who are vulnerable for whatever reason ...