The death of a young Rotorua man who suffered from drug and alcohol addictions highlights a troubling delay in accessing residential rehab beds, a coroner says.
Photo: RNZ / Karen Brown
Maurice Murtagh, 20, died on 3 June 2016 following a brain injury caused by substance abuse.
On 24 May, Mr Murtagh was found unconscious in a hotel carpark with a sword down his jeans and two cans of aerosol spray and a lighter in his clothing.
He was taken to Rotorua Hospital but was discharged from intensive care when there was no change in his neurological state after 96 hours, and he eventually passed away at his mother's home.
Coroner Michael Robb said Mr Murtagh had been due to be admitted to an alcohol detoxification and rehab programme, but a bed only became available on the day after he was found unconscious.
Mr Robb said Mr Murtagh's life history made for sad reading. He had been taken out of his mother's care when he was two, had an abusive childhood and began huffing inhalants at the age of 12.
This continued through to his death, when he was using three to four cans of fly spray a day.
Mr Murtagh also drank heavily and was a regular cannabis and synthetics user and often slept on the streets.
He was well known to police and had been arrested 24 times.
In the months leading up to his death, drug and alcohol counsellors from Te Utuhina Manaakitanga Trust and the Crisis Assessment Treatment Team (CATT) worked with Mr Murtagh, but he continued to use aerosols and other substances.
Mr Robb said the current admissions process for Te Utuhina, a residential rehabilitation facility, meant patients must go through a medical detoxification before they can be referred for a hospital bed.
He said if Mr Murtagh had been able to undergo that detoxification after he was taken to hospital on 10 May, and after his probation officer found he had been huffing, his chances of being alive today would be significantly improved.
However, a medical detoxification bed was not available until 25 May - the day after Mr Murtagh was found unconscious in the hotel carpark.
Mr Robb said the lack of beds was likely caused by a lack of funding. Te Utuhina currently receives DHB funding for 15 beds but provides an additional six at its own cost.
He said the limited number of places available for medical detoxification was troubling, and could have fatal consequences.
