on equality and diversity. As a consequence, religious,
gender identity, and physical and intellectual disability
needs that fall outside established norms are not being
routinely met. While efforts have been made to reduce
Mäori offending, it is difficult at this stage to measure
the effectiveness of these initiatives.
Complaints handling
Prisoner confidence in the effectiveness of prison
complaints processes is currently very low. The
ability of prisoners to raise concerns effectively, by
accessing processes that are clear, robust, responsive,
and consistently applied across the prison estate, is
vital to maintaining and safeguarding the integrity
and accountability of the prison system as a whole. In
addition, poor record keeping by prison staff, and an
inability at times to readily retrieve complaint-related
information in response to information requests, serve
to undermine the effectiveness of the complaints
processes.
Meal times
Meal times across the prison estate do not reflect
standard meal times, with breakfast being served
between 8.30 am and 9.00 am, lunch at 11.30 am and
the evening meal as early as 3.15 pm in some prisons.
The intervals between some meals is not optimal and
is in breach of the Mandela Rules.
Health and disability facilities
• Use of long-term seclusion for clients considered to
be complex and difficult to manage.
• Lack of step-down beds in both mental health and
I.D services resulting in bed blocking and least
restrictive practices.
• Use of night safety procedures (locking someone in
their room between certain hours i.e. 8pm to 8am.
This is not considered seclusion by the Ministry of
Health and is being used by some DHB’s to reduce
their seclusion hours.
• Increase in environmental restraint.
• No minimum entitlements for patients i.e. patients
don’t automatically have access to daily fresh air
and telephones.
• Youth being held in adult services.
21
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents