Mental health staff in the Wairarapa, Hutt Valley and Capital & Coast areas have been injured on 83 occasions by patients over the past year. A staff member was forced to take 70 days’ sick leave after being assaulted while caring for a mental health client in the lower North Island. However, authorities hope a new shift in approach by frontline staff will help drive down patient-inflicted injuries in the future. Newly-released figures from the mental health authority servicing the Wairarapa, Hutt Valley and Capital & Coast areas, known as 3DHB, show there were 135 instances of assaults by patients over the past 12 months.
