A union has lodged a complaint with the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) over the police response to callouts to a violent mental health patient at Hutt Hospital's mental health unit in May.

Staff have claimed police officers stood by while the male patient tried to break down a door and threatened to hurt them, and a small team of staff twice took turns holding the door to the man's room shut for more than an hour.

The IPCA confirmed to RNZ it had received a complaint, and it was currently being assessed.

The Public Service Association (PSA) told RNZ the unit's staff had done everything right.

National secretary Fleur Fitzsimons said when the patient made serious threats, mental health workers sought help, but were told police would not attend unless a crime was actually in progress.

When threats escalated, police eventually arrived, but staff report being told by police they were there only as a "presence" and would not physically intervene.

This was the second complaint the PSA had made to the IPCA this year, after three emergency calls to Police in 90 minutes by a mental health worker went unanswered in November 2025.

Fitzsimons said the IPCA had declined to look into this complaint due to a lack of resources.

"This isn't one bad night," Fitzsimons said. "Our members have been raising the alarm for months that Police pulling back from mental health response puts workers and patients at serious and intolerable risk. This incident shows exactly what that risk looks like in practice."

Police and Health NZ said at the time the incident was not related to the police pullback from mental health callouts.

But the PSA has asked IPCA to investigate the specific incident, as well as undertake a wider inquiry into the wider police withdrawal.

Police told RNZ they were unable to add further comment.