A grieving mother says Oranga Tamariki’s failures worsened her teenage son’s suffering before his death from an aggressive cancer, after staff at Rotorua’s Te Maioha o Parekarangi Youth Justice facility ignored his repeated pleas for medical help.
According to a report in state-funded media, the 16-year-old, who complained of severe back pain for months, was denied access to a doctor and adequate pain relief until a spinal growth revealed advanced Ewing sarcoma.
Despite being under Oranga Tamariki’s care, his mother was kept in the dark about his hospitalisation and says systemic neglect robbed him of any chance of survival.
A Chief Ombudsman’s investigation found unreasonable decisions, poor communication, and outdated record-keeping at Te Maioha, prompting an apology and recommendations for reform. Oranga Tamariki has apologised and “promised improvements”, but the boy’s mother is now seeking compensation, saying her family endured needless pain and delay — including a wheelchair that arrived only two weeks before his death in July.
What good are apologies?
More poor mismanagement
The good news is there was an investigation to uncover these deficiencies
Which appears synonymous with and plagues this groups involvement
Of course if she had been a better parent the boy would never have been there – just saying. Then she could have “noticed” and done something herself. Did she not visit her boy? Did she not have contact?
Of course she wants money……..what the hell have we created in society?
Everything is always someone else’s fault…..
God help you if you live outside of a major city in NZ and need medical help.
The idea is to stay as healthy as you can. That said, after the school dental nurse and the money hungry dentist I had as a teen ruined my teeth with amalgam, I do need to visit the dentist from time to time. The money hungry guy once joked he wasn’t going to get new tyres for his BMW out of my mother’s teeth. She finally woke up. He drilled out my perfectly healthy molars because he said I would “probably get holes” anyway. Now they are crumbling around the side. 😡
I live inside a major city in NZ and avoid medical “help”. Avoided doctors for over 7 years.
Who is Oranga Tamariki