Forensic services provide care for people (care recipients or special care recipients) with an intellectual disability under the Intellectual Disability (Compulsory Care and Rehabilitation) Act 2003 (the IDCC&R Act). Individuals become subject to the Act following engagement in criminal offending and compulsory care is provided as an alternative to a prison sentence.
The Ministry of Health purchases this care under the High and Complex Framework. The facilities that these services offer vary. Some services provide beds within existing forensic mental health infrastructure; others provide them in purpose-built facilities. Some Residential Intellectual Disability Secure Services (RIDSS) also have ’step-down’ facilities, which are medium secure ‘cottages’ intended to provide a more home-like environment as care recipients move towards a transition to the community.
Since 2017, seclusion data for those under the IDCC&R Act has been disaggregated from the data provided for individuals under the Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act 1992 (the Mental Health Act) to give a better understanding of the use of seclusion for each group. The data for individuals with an intellectual disability is provided in the Office of the Director of Mental Health and Addiction Services’ annual report (the ODMHAS report).
The seclusion data presented for people with intellectual disabilities is specific to care recipients with a legal status under the IDCC&R Act. Care recipients being cared for under the IDCC&R Act and the Mental Health Act may only be subject to seclusion in hospital-level secure services that meet requirements in the Mental Health Act.
Due to changes to the format of the 2018 and 2019 ODMHAS report and delays to the production of the report, the data for the IDCC&R Act was excluded from the report. Therefore, we are providing the data on the Ministry of Health’s website so that it remains publicly available. Data for further periods from 2020 onwards will again be provided in the ODMHAS report.
The data below provides a summary of seclusion use for 2018 and 2019. Further comparative analysis over the 2017–2020 years will be provided in the 2020 ODMHAS report. The data for the two years shows a reduction in the average number of seclusion events for individuals from 2018 to 2019. This is due to the further development of the forensic intellectual disability model of care.
| DHB | Number of beds | Number of people | Number of events | Median number of events | Average number of events per person |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canterbury | 8 | 4 | 29 | 4 | 7 |
| Capital & Coast | 32 | 5 | 14 | 2 | 3 |
| Southern | 11 | 2 | 31 | 16 | 16 |
| Waikato | 3 | 3 | 36 | 12 | 12 |
| Waitematā | 12 | 6 | 151 | 10 | 25 |
Note: This table presents seclusion data only for care recipients with a legal status under the IDCC&R Act.
Source: All DHB data supplied in Aug 2019.
| DHB | Total seclusion hours (hours) | Median duration of seclusion events (hours: minutes) | Average duration of seclusion events (hours: minutes) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canterbury | 233 | 3:07 | 8:02 |
| Capital & Coast | 213 | 16:40 | 15:13 |
| Southern | 142 | 2:55 | 4:34 |
| Waikato | 590 | 4:31 | 16:22 |
| Waitematā | 1868 | 7:29 | 12:22 |
Note: This table presents seclusion data only for care recipients with a legal status under the IDCC&R Act.
Source: All DHB data supplied in Aug 2019.
| DHB | Number of beds | Number of people | Number of events | Median number of events | Average number of events per person |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canterbury | 8 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Capital & Coast | 32 | 4 | 16 | 3 | 4 |
| Southern | 11 | 3 | 22 | 2 | 7 |
| Waikato | 3 | 2 | 9 | 5 | 5 |
| Waitematā | 12 | 5 | 38 | 2 | 8 |
Note: This table presents seclusion data only for care recipients with a legal status under the IDCC&R Act. This information excludes one outlier.
Source: All DHB data supplied in Jan 2021.
| DHB | Total seclusion hours (hours) | Median duration of seclusion events (hours: minutes) | Average duration of seclusion events (hours: minutes) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canterbury | 34 | 16:45 | 16:45 |
| Capital & Coast | 20 | 1:00 | 1:13 |
| Southern | 464 | 5:17 | 21:05 |
| Waikato | 91 | 6:00 | 10:05 |
| Waitematā | 221 | 1:20 | 5:49 |
Note: This table presents seclusion data only for care recipients with a legal status under the IDCC&R Act. This information excludes one outlier.
Source: All DHB data supplied in Jan 2021.
