A disability service has been found to have breached the rights of a woman with mental health needs after a hospital transfer left her "technically homeless".
The woman, who suffered a traumatic brain injury in 2016 and has had a "complex mental health history" since 2007, was set to be transferred for treatment following a "manic relapse of her bipolar mood disorder".
She was initially taken to a mental health service for assessment, but did not meet the criteria to be admitted or placed under a compulsory treatment order.
A team leader from the disability service drove the woman to a hospital emergency room four hours away from her home, then left her there.
No handover was provided to the hospital, and "the woman’s medication was not taken from the disability service to the hospital. When the woman was assessed, she was not admitted to the hospital and was left technically homeless in the days following".
Health and Disability Deputy Commissioner, Dr Vanessa Caldwell, was critical of the service's exit from caring for the woman and of the lacking transfer of care process, equating the situation to abandonment.
"The disability service did not contact the hospital in advance to advise staff the woman would be coming for assessment. There was no contingency in place for what would occur if the hospital decided not to admit the woman, which was a foreseeable outcome given the earlier mental health service assessment," the spokesperson continued.
"The woman did not have her medication with her, and the woman’s mother (who is also her legal guardian) was not informed that the woman was being exited from the service."
Caldwell also made "adverse" comments about the team leader that drove the woman to the hospital, saying he lacked "critical thinking", but acknowledged that he was following direct instructions and had no decision-making power in the situation.
The deputy commissioner recommended the disability service "provide a written apology to the woman and her mother, and provide HDC with copies of the disability service’s policy for discharging residents, escalation policy and protocol for transfer of care, and training framework for managing challenging behaviours".
She also recommended the disability service, ACC, and Te Whatu Ora provide an update on further steps to improve co-ordination and co-operation between rehabilitation and mental health services.
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