{"id":674670,"date":"2026-03-22T22:31:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T22:31:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/674670\/"},"modified":"2026-03-22T22:31:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T22:31:13","slug":"specialist-mental-health-team-excluded-from-decisions-on-shared-prison-cells-for-mentally-ill-prisoners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/674670\/","title":{"rendered":"Specialist mental health team excluded from decisions on shared prison cells for mentally ill prisoners"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"RobRob Fitzpatrick died at Auckland’s Mt Eden Corrections Facility. Photo \/ Annaleise Shortland.<\/p>\n

The review investigated the circumstances leading up to the death of Rob Fitzpatrick<\/a>, who was placed in a shared cell with a man alleged to have killed him on June 27 last year.<\/p>\n

In the months before Fitzpatrick\u2019s death, he was seen by mental health teams in both hospital and prison settings.<\/p>\n

Mt Eden Prison, where Fitzpatrick died, has a dedicated team of forensic mental health specialists, whose job it is to oversee the care of prisoners in distress. <\/p>\n

But the report reveals they were not involved in crucial accommodation decisions. \u201cThere was no systematic understanding of arrangements for shared cells, and of the potential compatibility issues for cellmates,\u201d it says.<\/p>\n

The report said that despite weekly meetings between health and Corrections staff about new arrivals, neither Fitzpatrick nor his cellmate was discussed.<\/p>\n

\u2018They should have all information\u2019<\/p>\n

\"DrDr Hiran Thabrew told the Herald it is dangerous when specialist health staff cannot access the information they need. Photo \/ Cole Eastham-Farrelly<\/p>\n

Chair of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, Dr Hiran Thabrew, told the Herald an arrangement where specialists don\u2019t have information about those sharing cells, nor input into bunking decisions, is dangerous.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrison health teams should have access to all appropriate information in a timely manner,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The review said double-bunking decisions are largely the responsibility of Corrections and there is no formal structure for the insights of other experts to be considered.<\/p>\n

It recommended that prisoners\u2019 \u201crisk history\u201d and details of their alleged offending be shared with the FPT so they can properly understand and advise on cell-sharing arrangements.<\/p>\n

Currently, Corrections carries out risk assessments<\/a> when deciding who is suitable to be put in a shared cell \u2013 a system now under review.<\/p>\n

\u2018Staff shortages\u2019<\/p>\n

According to the report, the problems were compounded by staff shortages at Mt Eden prison, including nursing vacancies at the time of Fitzpatrick\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

Specialist mental health staff at Whang\u0101rei Hospital, where Fitzpatrick had previously been a patient, were under similar strain.<\/p>\n

The psychiatrist involved in Fitzpatrick\u2019s most recent admission there told the review team he was sometimes \u201cthe only senior medical officer on the ward\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cForensic mental health teams reported chronic understaffing and high workloads, with minimal clinical supervision or governance oversight,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n

At Mt Eden Prison, the shortage of forensic mental health staff also coincided with growth in the inmate population. <\/p>\n

Thabrew told the Herald the problems extend across the country. One in five publicly funded psychiatry positions are vacant<\/a> and forensic services have been hardest hit, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose shortages, particularly in forensics, are having a significant effect on care \u2013 but also for psychiatrists to be able to train future generations of forensic psychiatrists. People are quite stretched \u2013 there\u2019s high turnover and burnout,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Thabrew said the reduced capacity of the workforce means people are spending longer in prison waiting to get into forensic mental health units like the Mason Clinic \u2013 an experience that can compound mental distress.<\/p>\n

\u2018Fragmented systems\u2019<\/p>\n

\"AA draft review points to safety concerns because of an inability to share medical records.<\/p>\n

The review also found that health officials and Corrections use multiple incompatible IT systems to hold clinical records \u2013 impacting safety.<\/p>\n

\u201cClinicians and custodial staff cannot easily access or share timely data, contributing to critical gaps in understanding a person\u2019s care trajectory … \u201d<\/p>\n

Thabrew said information sharing across health had been a longstanding problem.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven between DHBs in the health system, we know there are issues when people are transferred from one area to another.\u201d <\/p>\n

Even fulltime forensic staff at Mt Eden had \u201climited information\u201d about inmates, leaving them in the dark about the seriousness of offending, the review noted.<\/p>\n

Family \u2018excluded and helpless\u2019<\/p>\n

\"TheThe family of Rob Fitzpatrick (inset) believe failures by multiple government agencies culminated in his death. The 46-year-old who had mental health issues was allegedly beaten to death by his cellmate while double bunked at Mt Eden prison.<\/p>\n

Fitzpatrick\u2019s family was critical about the poor communication from various agencies, according to the review. <\/p>\n

They described \u201crushed or poorly planned\u201d discharges from hospital, leaving them scrambling to find Fitzpatrick safe accommodation, and frustration with not being able to get help from mental health crisis teams when Fitzpatrick was unwell.<\/p>\n

In other instances, he was arrested without them being informed, the report said.<\/p>\n

On one occasion, the family was blocked from visiting Fitzpatrick in prison because he struggled to fill out the documentation.<\/p>\n

The draft report recommended that all mental health and addiction services work to improve contact with families.<\/p>\n

The Herald has sought clarity about when HNZ\u2019s review will be finalised, but has yet to receive a response.<\/p>\n

Mental Health and Addiction national director Phil Grady previously said any recommendations will be implemented quickly.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are always looking to improve how we deliver the best possible patient-centred care.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michael Morrah<\/b><\/a> is a senior investigative reporter\/team leader at the <\/b>Herald<\/b>. He won News Journalist of the Year at the 2025 Voyager Media Awards and has twice been named reporter of the year at the NZ Television Awards. He has been a broadcast journalist for 20 years and joined the <\/b>Herald<\/b>\u2019s video team in July 2024.<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rob Fitzpatrick died at Auckland’s Mt Eden Corrections Facility. Photo \/ Annaleise Shortland. The review investigated the circumstances…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":674671,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[36],"tags":[1701,39486,284522,89816,172492,4446,41881,284517,284519,381,1075,210,98924,45075,14012,517,129665,284523,5824,78595,284520,5332,124928,1630,46277,284518,162944,41614,3007,67,132,68,284521],"class_list":["post-674670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-according","tag-allegedly","tag-beaten","tag-cellmate","tag-cells","tag-death","tag-decisions","tag-excluded","tag-flawed","tag-for","tag-from","tag-health","tag-herald","tag-ill","tag-mental","tag-mental-health","tag-mentally","tag-obtained","tag-on","tag-poor","tag-preceded","tag-prison","tag-prisoners","tag-report","tag-resourcing","tag-shared","tag-specialist","tag-systems","tag-team","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-whangrei"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116275202347255081","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/674670","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=674670"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/674670\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/674671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=674670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=674670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=674670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}