Mental Health Workforce Crisis Exposed - Urgent Action Needed Now
The Government must take urgent action on the acute shortage of mental health workers after revelations of the scale of problem.
The PSA is demanding the Government:
1. Immediately fill all vacancies
2. Lift the hiring ban across the country
3. Reinstate police support for all mental health call outs
3 News has obtained a draft report showing the scale of the workforce crisis, but the official report to the Minister for Mental Health Matt Doocey removed the numbers. The draft report said 1,485 more frontline mental health and addiction workers were needed right now, including 470 specialist nurses, 145 psychiatrists and 145 clinical psychologists.
"This is stark evidence of the Government failing to get on top off the workforce crisis and the public will be rightly shocked at the scale of the problem exposed by the media," said Fleur Fitzsimons, National Secretary for the Public Service Association for Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi.
"This not news to us. The PSA has been well aware of the scale of the problem for a long time. That's why we have been repeatedly demanding that Health NZ Te Whatu Ora accelerate recruitment, but these numbers show that it's not solving the problem fast enough."
The PSA represents most mental health workers including mental health nurses, community mental health workers, psychologists, social workers, and child and adolescent specialists.
"There is a crisis in ever hospital where mental health workers are under more pressure than ever. The phased withdrawal of police support is compounding the problem.
"But recruitment is happening at a snail's pace. It can often take months for Health NZ to sign off on hiring even one worker, who is often lost to the private sector or to higher paying jobs overseas because of these long delays.
"It's just not good enough. We have a dedicated Minister for Mental Health for the first time and the Government promised New Zealanders it would get on top of the problem.
"The buck stops with the Minister. But unless the Government properly funds and resources mental health, patient care will suffer. This is a critical frontline service and New Zealanders deserve better."
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