"Police response to Hillmorton Hospital incident"
Please attribute to Acting District Commander Inspector Tony Hill
At approximately 9:08pm on 17 March Ambulance requested Police assistance at Hillmorton Hospital where an alleged
assault had occurred, three staff had been assaulted by a patient.
Within three minutes of receiving the request, information was relayed to Police that the alleged offender had been
restrained and placed in a secure room. As the risk had therefore been reduced, Police were soon diverted to a more
urgent mental health incident in which a person had attempted suicide.
Staff returned to Hillmorton at approximately 10:40pm to follow up on the alleged assault.
Police are making enquiries into the alleged assault, currently we are waiting to take a full statement from the three
victims who have received medical treatment for their injuries.
Police prioritise what jobs we attend based on a number of factors, such as immediate risk to individuals, vulnerability
of the people involved and potential for the incident to escalate.
In this instance, our staff were confident that the situation at Hillmorton was
currently under control and a person’s life was at risk requiring an immediate response.
A full and thorough investigation into this alleged assault is now underway.
Police is liaising closely with Canterbury DHB in regards to the assault.
We have a strong working relationship with the CDHB, particularly with Mental Health Services.
We also maintain a close working relationship with Hillmorton Hospital and meet with them regularly.
We will be discussing this latest event to see what can be done jointly to prevent any more of their staff being injured
at work.
ENDS