Client Non-Compliance and Emergency Discharge Procedures

These procedures form part of the Terms and Conditions you have been asked to sign prior to admitting to RLNZ.

Recovered Living operates as a voluntary program and is not authorised or resourced to provide acute psychiatric care, involuntary treatment, or hospital-level medical care.  

 Clients may be discharged from RLNZ if they:  

• Do not comply with program rules  

• Abscond from the facility 

• Display behaviour that compromises the safety and wellbeing of themselves, other clients, or staff 

• Display psychiatric instability that cannot safely be managed within the facility or 

• Develop a medical issue that exceeds the facility’s capacity to manage  

When the above situations occur, if the client cannot remain at the facility, discharge is required in the form of either a 24 hour, or immediate discharge. 

24 Hour Discharge 

For clients who:  

• Have a medical issue that does not require inpatient hospitalisation but is outside of our scope or capacity to care for in an ongoing manner 

• Are outside of our residential scope psychiatrically however do not meet criteria for inpatient psychiatric services but are able to remain safe within the programme while discharge arrangements are being made 

• Are non compliant with programme rules including absconding, however are not significantly impacting on clients or staff and are able to stay for 24 hours while discharge arrangements are being made 

Immediate Discharge 

For clients who: 

• Exhibit behaviour that compromises the safety and wellbeing of themselves or those at RLNZ  

• Display psychiatric instability that cannot safely be managed within the facility, however does not meet criteria for inpatient psychiatric services 

Immediate discharge may occur for clients who abscond from RLNZ. Please note that emergency services in Christchurch do not respond to absconding events and it is unsafe for RLNZ staff to pursue clients. In the case of an immediate discharge, families or financially responsible parties will be notified and asked to arrange either immediate collection or alternative supervision.  

Where immediate collection is not practicable, Recovered Living may, at its discretion, assist in arranging temporary accommodation (e.g., hotel or motel) at the expense of the family or financially responsible party. RLNZ will ensure the client has access to food, water, and reasonable personal necessities at the time of discharge, but is unable to provide ongoing supervision or monitoring. Once the client has been discharged or transferred to temporary accommodation, Recovered Living assumes no further responsibility for their safety, welfare, or actions. Responsibility for ongoing care rests with the client, their family, or the financially responsible parties. 

Please be aware that there is a current gap in public mental health services. If a client is psychiatrically unsafe to remain at RLNZ, acceptance into inpatient psychiatric services is not assured. Often this involves 12-16 hour waiting times in the Emergency Department that RLNZ cannot guarantee we will have the additional staffing capacity to cover. Te Whau Ora has initiated a national campaign that allows a transfer of care between Residential Disability (mental health) Services such as RLNZ, to hospital for assessment. In practice, this means if we deem a client unsafe to remain at RLNZ, we can transport them to the Emergency Department for assessment. Once a client is checked into the waiting room, they are then under the care of the hospital. However please note, the hospital are unable to involuntarily hold a client in the waiting room. Once a client has been assessed by hospital services, they are either accepted into an inpatient level of care or if declined, they would be required to be collected by whanau.