Acute Inpatient Unit @ Lakes District Health Board

Te Whare Oranga Tangata o Whakaue is an acute inpatient facility for the Lakes DHB region. The facility consists of 14-beds with two intensive care rooms, a whanau room, kitchen and dining room, TV lounge, interview rooms and a conservatory.
Staffing includes:
• Staff nurses
• Clinical nurse specialist
• Consultant psychiatrist
• House officer
• Clinical nurse manager
• Maori mental health
• Diversional therapist
• Clerical support

A range of different types of health workers (social worker, psychologist, community mental health nurses, and whai manaaki,) may be involved in the assessment and care of patients who enter the Mental Health and Addiction Services inpatient unit on the Rotorua Hospital campus.
All clinical staff provide comprehensive mental health assessment and care for all tangata whaiora /patients who are admitted to the inpatient unit, Te Whare Oranga Tangata o Whakaue.
The house surgeon provides a complete physical examination for all patients/ tangata whaiora on admission and follow up care. The clinical nurse manager is the key person in managing nursing care and provides professional leadership and day to day operational management within the unit.
Specialist skills within the inpatient unit cover areas such as comprehensive nursing assessments, medication administration and education, monitoring of side effects, education regarding mental health disorders, pre and post Electroconvulsive Treatment (ECT) assessment and care, seclusion nursing care and assessment.
Admission to the unit is via the Single Point of Entry, which encompasses the crisis and community mental health services.
On admission to the inpatient unit, a nurse is allocated to the patients/ tangata whaiora for each shift. A review of all patients/tangata whaiora is carried out every morning by the inpatient staff and a collective decision is made regarding assessment, planning and intervention of care.
The aim of the staff is to progress the patient through the service continuum to the health professionals working in the community mental health team.
Maori mental health staff (whai manaaki) are integral in providing cultural input and assessment for Maori patients on the unit. Part of their role is to ensure that Maori patients and their whanau receive the appropriate transition from the community into hospital and back into the community. Staff try to encourage the involvement of whanau in assessment, treatment and discharge planning of the patient is encouraged.

COMMUNITY LIAISON WITH THE INPATIENT UNIT

Residential Homes - The inpatient unit provides a link and point of contact for residential homes within the community setting to ensure an integrated relationship and support service for tangata whaiora on admission and discharge.
Police Liaison Nurse - The clinical nurse leader maintains a link with the Police Liaison Nurse to field and facilitate any enquiries regarding input and intervention of police with staff and patients/ tangata whaiora.
Community Mental Health Team - The inpatient unit maintains a link with the Community Mental Health Team on a weekly basis during the Multi Disciplinary Team (MDT) meeting to form a collective decision for the assessment, planning and intervention of care for all patients/tangata whaiora.
Whanau Involvement - The inpatient unit initiates and maintains a link with the whanau and families of all patients/tangata whaiora on the unit.
Addiction Treatment Team - The clinical staff initiates and maintains a link and point of contact with the Addiction Resource Centre to enable the facilitation of a referral for a patient/tangata whaiora who has been identified through assessment as benefiting from this service.
Rotorua Police - The unit staff initiate and maintain a link with the Police to report any absence without leave of a patient/tangata whaiora, from the inpatient unit.
Other District Health Boards - The clinical nurse manager maintains links with other acute inpatient units attached to District Health Boards around the country when required in supplying and receiving statistical data for the number of beds available, in particular,Tauranga and Whakatane Hospitals.