‘Marked improvement' in mental health shown
The South is showing "marked improvement" in most of its mental health targets, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says.
But health officials are asking the minister to be careful with the data, and an opposition MP says it does not reflect the feeling of staff.
Mr Doocey has set specific targets for mental health delivery, including faster access to primary mental health and addiction services, faster access to specialist mental health and addiction services and shorter mental-health related stays in the emergency department.
The Southern district has improved its performance in all three targets, and was successful in faster access to primary mental health and addiction services (91.6%) and shorter mental health and addiction-related stays in EDs (86%), Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora's most recent quarterly data says.
The Southern district was also a shade under the target for access to specialist mental healthcare (78%).
Mr Doocey said this was a "marked improvement" from two quarters ago, where Southern was languishing near the bottom of the table.
"This government believes when someone is making the brave step of reaching out for help whether it's you, your child, a friend or family member, we are committed to ensuring we have the right support in place to answer that call, no matter where you are in New Zealand.
"It is promising to see the third quarter target data show Southern are exceeding two out of three access targets. I have recently been in the Southern region where I met some of our hard-working frontline workers who are on the ground making a real difference in helping those in the region have access to faster mental health support."
However, officials have also advised there were still some caveats around the data — particularly in ED presentations, where it "does not account for the complexities of acute presentations, for example people presenting with combinations of physical and mental symptoms, or presentations where the actual problem is not immediately obvious" and "does not reliably identify any addiction-related events".
A late January briefing paper, released under the Official Information Act, urged Mr Doocey to be cautious when looking at the quarterly results.
"This is the first attempt at this level of reporting on data against the mental health and addiction targets.
"Unlike the wider health system targets, the datasets and reporting processes are new and the infrastructure supporting the process is evolving. It is critical to appreciate the preliminary nature of the data as a picture of performance against the mental health addiction targets at this juncture of the implementation and design."
Labour MP for Taieri Ingrid Leary said the results did not reflect what she was hearing from frontline workers, who were still under-resourced and stretched.
Many young people were waiting several months for mental health assistance, she said.
"The caveats in the document might explain the chasm between the reality on the ground and the supposedly good results.
"When you have so many waiting for mental healthcare, the results aren't worth the paper they're printed on."
Meanwhile, Mr Doocey said yesterday he was pressing ahead with the creation of a Digital Mental Health Hub, which was aimed at improving access to mental health services.
"A key component of the hub will be improving digital navigation to connect people with existing mental health services. Unfortunately, many people are unaware of the services already available to them and these navigation systems could be a game changer.
"The road map is currently in development, and I am hoping to have more to say over the coming months."
matthew.littlewood@odt.co.nz
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scoop
13 hours ago
- Scoop
Targets Trouble Leads To Fake Doctors Appointments
Under National, hospitals are booking ghost appointments to make it look like their targets are being met. 'Correspondence between clinicians shows fake appointments are being made for fake clinics at Nelson Hospital,' Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. 'This is a worrying sign that yet again National's targets are leading to perverse incentives. This happened last time, when the system was gamed to make it look like people were having shorter stays in emergency departments. 'This time, clinicians are putting five-minute appointments in the system, when in reality patients are not being seen. 'The goal should always be patient outcomes, not making the books look good so the Minister can boast about meeting arbitrary targets. We said this would happen, now it is. 'The Minister needs a better answer than blaming others – this is a result of his decisions,' Ayesha Verrall said.
Otago Daily Times
a day ago
- Otago Daily Times
Group shows confidence in hospital plan
A privately owned public hospital for the Central Otago-Queenstown Lakes area is not quite a done deal — but one might be forgiven for thinking so after a show of confidence from southern leaders. The Otago Central Lakes Health Services Project steering group issued a statement yesterday saying Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora (HNZ) was "prioritising" work on a clinical services plan for the region that would "clear the way" for a new hospital in the region. "It could be New Zealand's first large privately owned and publicly operated hospital," the statement said. HNZ did not respond to questions yesterday. However, the steering group — comprising Queenstown Lakes District Mayor Glyn Lewers, Waitaki MP Miles Anderson, Act New Zealand MP Todd Stephenson, of Queenstown, Southland MP Joseph Mooney and Central Otago District Mayor Tamah Alley — said it had a "positive meeting" with Health Minister Simeon Brown recently. Mr Mooney said the public-private partnership the steering group was pursuing was not yet a done deal — nor would a new hospital, in Queenstown, affect the status of the new Dunedin hospital as the region's tertiary hospital. "I guess there are no done deals — a lot of work has been done to get to this point and a lot more needs to be done," the National Party MP said. "It is arguably the farthest the region has got for a decade to getting a significant change to health services. "It will improve Central Lakes health, and it is also going to improve health services across the entire region because of the pressure of this fast-growing population. "Visitor numbers to Central Otago push a lot of people down to those base hospitals." He said HNZ had agreed to use "more accurate" council-derived population projections for its planning, instead of Stats NZ figures. Mr Mooney said the government statistics were off and "it would be silly" to model from inaccurate numbers. Stats NZ suggested the population was growing at 1.5% a year, when council statistics were closer to 6%, he said. Lakes District Hospital in Queenstown was built in 1988 to cater for 4500 people. The current combined resident-only Queenstown Lakes and Central Otago districts' population is 78,400. In 2024, Queenstown had a peak day population, including visitors, of 168,353. Peak day population is projected to be 303,628 by 2054. The update on the health project work came in the wake of a regional deal announcement for the area. At the start of the month, the Queenstown Lakes and Central Otago district councils, along with the Otago Regional Council, won the right to negotiate a new 10-year partnership with central government designed to progress shared priorities. Yesterday's statement noted the regional deal proposal included health as a cornerstone. It said a hospital in Queenstown — "built and financed by a private investor from which public services can be delivered by HNZ" — was in the planning stage. It also touted private surgical hospitals for both Queenstown and Wanaka. Mr Lewers said investing in health in the area was a long time coming. "Until recently, despite our growth, Health NZ had no plans for expansion in our area. "We're finally on their radar." The hospital would work alongside current or planned private providers in Alexandra, Clyde, Cromwell, Wānaka and Queenstown, which, Mr Mooney said, would be co-ordinated. "We would start mapping and talking to what services already exist across all those centres." The statement from the steering group said decades of under-investment in health services and infrastructure in the Queenstown Lakes and Central Otago districts had led to problems when seeking speciality and emergency healthcare. Many patients in Queenstown Lakes and Central Otago had to make a six-hour return drive for their healthcare. Last year, there were 300 helicopter transfers from Lakes District Hospital costing $6.3 million, it said.
Otago Daily Times
a day ago
- Otago Daily Times
‘Marked improvement' in mental health shown
Matt Doocey. PHOTO: ODT FILES The South is showing "marked improvement" in most of its mental health targets, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. But health officials are asking the minister to be careful with the data, and an opposition MP says it does not reflect the feeling of staff. Mr Doocey has set specific targets for mental health delivery, including faster access to primary mental health and addiction services, faster access to specialist mental health and addiction services and shorter mental-health related stays in the emergency department. The Southern district has improved its performance in all three targets, and was successful in faster access to primary mental health and addiction services (91.6%) and shorter mental health and addiction-related stays in EDs (86%), Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora's most recent quarterly data says. The Southern district was also a shade under the target for access to specialist mental healthcare (78%). Mr Doocey said this was a "marked improvement" from two quarters ago, where Southern was languishing near the bottom of the table. "This government believes when someone is making the brave step of reaching out for help whether it's you, your child, a friend or family member, we are committed to ensuring we have the right support in place to answer that call, no matter where you are in New Zealand. "It is promising to see the third quarter target data show Southern are exceeding two out of three access targets. I have recently been in the Southern region where I met some of our hard-working frontline workers who are on the ground making a real difference in helping those in the region have access to faster mental health support." However, officials have also advised there were still some caveats around the data — particularly in ED presentations, where it "does not account for the complexities of acute presentations, for example people presenting with combinations of physical and mental symptoms, or presentations where the actual problem is not immediately obvious" and "does not reliably identify any addiction-related events". A late January briefing paper, released under the Official Information Act, urged Mr Doocey to be cautious when looking at the quarterly results. "This is the first attempt at this level of reporting on data against the mental health and addiction targets. "Unlike the wider health system targets, the datasets and reporting processes are new and the infrastructure supporting the process is evolving. It is critical to appreciate the preliminary nature of the data as a picture of performance against the mental health addiction targets at this juncture of the implementation and design." Labour MP for Taieri Ingrid Leary said the results did not reflect what she was hearing from frontline workers, who were still under-resourced and stretched. Many young people were waiting several months for mental health assistance, she said. "The caveats in the document might explain the chasm between the reality on the ground and the supposedly good results. "When you have so many waiting for mental healthcare, the results aren't worth the paper they're printed on." Meanwhile, Mr Doocey said yesterday he was pressing ahead with the creation of a Digital Mental Health Hub, which was aimed at improving access to mental health services. "A key component of the hub will be improving digital navigation to connect people with existing mental health services. Unfortunately, many people are unaware of the services already available to them and these navigation systems could be a game changer. "The road map is currently in development, and I am hoping to have more to say over the coming months."
