Donaldson case not isolated—nurse

Press, 30 June 1983, Page 9

Donaldson case not isolated—nurse

PA Wellington A convicted sexual offender due for release this week was among six examples of psychiatric patients and inmates not receiving adequate care, which were presented to the Commission of Inquiry into the Donaldson case yesterday. A Wellington district psychiatric nurse, Mr John Holloway, told the commission that the former Porirua patient was completing an 18-month sentence for sexual offences. The man had run a half-way house for “street kids.” “The local community in a certain area has now become very agitated as, knowing him, they feel he needs psychiatric aftercare,” Mr Holloway said.

“Surely this would have been a case for some liaison, and maybe the finishing of his sentence at‘Porirua Hospital for staff there to assess him and offer some advice for follow-up.” Mr Holloway said that his examples were not intended to be sensational, but to highlight that the Donaldson

case was not Eolated. "Donaldson is not an isolated incident but rather representative of a group of patiente and inmates for whom there E no adequate institutional response and provEion,” he said. “More and more patiente are coming out of hospitate. With their psychiatric hEtory it seems that hospitals are hoping they will be caught up with the Justice Department.” Mr Holloway aEo quoted from last year’s community psychiatric nursing service annual report by a supervEing nurse, Ruth Ball. “Wellington continues to attract more and more unemployed schizophrenics for whom there are limited facilities,” she said in December.

“Hospitals are trying to keep their bed-state down and accept in the main only acute psychiatric cases. The social misfit and borderline cases which were previously admitted are falling into a no-mans land with the community having no desire and no facilities to care for them.”

Earlier, the inquiry heard a proposal for an alternative system to that of putting committed psychiatric patients’ details on the Wanganui computer for police use.

The Auckland Hospital Board’s chief medical superintendent, Dr Alexander Honeyman, said that he favoured a policy by which medical superintendents would alert the police to potentially difficult situations.

Donaldson was found dead in a booby-trapped car at Pauatahanui near Wellington in April after he was suspected of murdering Mr Alan Henderson.

The inquiry was set up to investigate Donaldson’s release from Lake Alice psychiatric hospital, hE subsequent arrest after trying to break into a house, and his release on bail after that incident.

A senior Ministry of Transport traffic officer, Mr Raymond Hall, has said that it would be “very advantageous” to have mentally ill and dangerous people entered on the computer.”