The sick ironies of Princess Margaret Hospital

The dreadful state of Princess Margaret Hospital in Christchurch became a political football in 2017.

Labour’s David Clark, then a health spokesman in Opposition, accused former Health Minister Jonathan Coleman of stalling when it came to providing adequate mental health facilities in the city.

Health, especially mental health, was a hot topic both in Christchurch and nationally and it has been said that Coleman’s performance was one of the factors that cost National a fourth term in Government.

Recent revelations about the poor condition of Middlemore Hospital in south Auckland, and what the previous Government did or did not know, have only confirmed that thesis.

Clark’s July 2017 press release about Princess Margaret Hospital talked of ‘‘appalling’’ situations, ‘‘gross underfunding’’ and a ‘‘funding snafu’’.

He asked a rhetorical question of Coleman: ‘‘Are he and his officials even aware of the fact that there has been a 72 per cent rise in people with mental health problems presenting at Christchurch emergency departments?’’

In short, Clark was talking a good Opposition game. Nearly a year later, with Clark firmly ensconced in Coleman’s old role, people in Christchurch will be expecting swifter action.

The nadir came in 2017 when Government-appointed reviewers opted not to visit, because they had heard it was depressing.

The sick irony is that the hospital still houses eating disorder patients, mothers suffering post-natal depression, children and adolescents and adult rehabilitation services. It is no picnic for them either.

Another report this week showed there is continued pressure to fast-track new services and close Princess Margaret Hospital completely, in favour of upgrading another facility – which would take three years.

The released information said that children are increasingly placed in seclusion rooms or adult wards because of a shortage of safe spaces.

The building continues to be an earthquake risk, that the length of stays in child and adolescent services are longer than they would be in a better building.

And every year around 600 incidents of escape, assaults and self-harm can be attributed to ‘‘the nature of the building’’.

As the Middlemore case shows, and there will no doubt be other examples surfacing between now and next month’s Budget, there is competition for the increased health spend promised by the Government.

Both before and after the election, it has been in Labour’s interests to highlight rundown facilities, a sense of crisis and a generally underfunded sector as the cost of National’s management of the economy.

But three more years, or one more election cycle, is clearly too long to wait for something better.