Mental Health Services Revamp

MENTAL HEALTH services are about to undergo big change in Wairarapa, with health bosses admitting the service is not working.

A recent review of services in the region revealed they were stretched and had struggled to stay clinically and financially viable. At any one time, about 540 people in Wairarapa receive Wairarapa District Health Board-funded mental health support.

For many of those people, the system was failing them, chief executive David Meates said. “What we have is a lot of small mental health providers about the region, and where it becomes an issue is that mental health clients don’t really know what services they should be accessing.”

Representatives from a wide variety of community mental health services have put together their expressions of interest to provide mental health services in Wairarapa. “We’re basically getting providers to throw their services into the air and then they will be assessed before they are back in place,” Mr Meates said. The assessment was expected to take about two months and the board aimed to have the new services in place by July.

Some changes have already been made to try to improve community- based support till a new service is in place. This year the board closed the mental health in-patient unit at Masterton Hospital.

The unit came under scrutiny last year after Masterton coroner Jock Kershaw called for changes to procedure after a woman patient died at the unit in 2000.

The board said though it had improved procedures continued staff shortages had resulted in less support in the community and more admissions. The ward’s closure had allowed more staff to work more closely with mental health patients in the community and reduce the need for crisis intervention, Mr Meates said.

A crisis team was also available 24 hours a day.

A priority for the board in the next few weeks was to make available one phone number as a point of contact for mental health concerns.

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