- Hon Matt Doocey
Minister for Mental Health Matt Doocey says second quarter mental health and addiction target data indicates New Zealanders are seeing genuine progress in improving wait times and increasing access to timely mental health support.
"It is encouraging to see all three of our wait time targets are improving and two of those targets are already being met at a national level," Mr Doocey says.
"This includes a 3.1 per cent increase in the overall number of people who are now accessing primary mental health and addiction services within one week. And a 1.5 per cent increase of Kiwis accessing specialist mental health and addiction services within three weeks.
"The results released today reinforce the Government's commitment to increasing access to timely mental health and addiction support. I'm pleased the targets and numbers are going in the right direction overall which results in better access for Kiwis.
"There is still plenty of work to be done, and I will continue in my efforts to drive change. This is evident at a local level where certain districts and population groups aren't receiving the same level of access.
"While it's positive to see an increase in the shorter stays in ED target, today's results highlight there is a lot more work to do to reach 95 per cent of people admitted, discharged, or transferred from an ED within six hours.
"This data provides a clearer understanding than we've ever had before. It provides clarity on the regions that are underperforming and in need of further improvement to bring them up to the national target.
"I've recently met with Health NZ's four regional deputy chief executives and tasked them with developing action plans for supporting and improving underperforming services within the regions.
"As New Zealand's first Minister for Mental Health, I am clear that accountability is vital and that we will continue to take a proactive approach to improving access and providing timely mental health and addiction support when and where it's needed."
Note for editors:
• Factsheets for quarter two results can be found here.
• Faster access to specialist mental health and addiction services: target of 80 percent of people accessing specialist mental health and addiction services are seen within three weeks.
o 81.9 percent of people were seen by specialist mental health service within three weeks in quarter 2, compared with 80.4 percent in quarter 1.
• Faster access to primary mental health and addiction services: target of 80 percent of people accessing primary mental health and addiction services through the Access and Choice programme are seen within one week.
o 83.9 percent of people were seen by primary mental health service within one week in quarter 2, compared with 80.8 percent in quarter 1.
• Shorter mental health and addiction-related stays in emergency departments: target of 95 percent of mental health and addiction-related emergency department presentations are admitted, discharged, or transferred from an emergency department within six hours.
o 65 percent of people were admitted, discharged, or transferred from an emergency department within six hours in quarter 2, compared with 63.5 percent in quarter 1.
• Increased mental health and addiction workforce development: target of training 500 mental health and addiction professionals each year.
o Increased mental health and addiction workforce development - 457
• Strengthened focus on prevention and early intervention: target of 25 percent of mental health and addiction investment is allocated towards prevention and early intervention.
o 24.4% of investment allocated towards prevention and early intervention
