Roy Heather: Mental Health Commission Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Roy Heather: Mental Health Commission Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:636;Page:7214] 
HEATHER ROY (Deputy Leader—ACT) 
: 
 I rise to speak to the first reading of the Mental Health Commission Amendment Bill on behalf of ACT New Zealand. ACT will be opposing this bill but not for reasons that might immediately be apparent. There are two main reasons. 
But firstly I would like to address the barrage that Dr Coleman had to contend with when he was trying to discuss some very important issues relating to mental illness. I think that Labour members have shown that they have very little understanding of mental health issues in this debate. Mr Mallard who has never shown any interest in mental health issues before stood up and spoke on behalf of his party. He did not even manage to fill his 10-minute slot in speaking about what good work the Mental Health Commission might or might not have done but instead took the opportunity when he sat down to then lead a barrage from his Labour colleagues about Dr Coleman. Luckily I was sitting very close to Dr Coleman and could hear what he was saying; he had some very valid points to make. The Labour members that participated in that very shameful behaviour should apologise to those people in New Zealand who suffer from the very serious consequences of mental illness. If those members had something to say to Dr Coleman then they should not have said it when the proceedings of this bill were taking place. [ 
Interruption 
] I am ashamed to be part of a House that thinks that that sort of behaviour—the sort of behaviour that we are hearing right now—is participated in. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: I would ask the member to address the bill please. 
HEATHER ROY 
: Yes I will. I am coming back to the Mental Health Commission Amendment Bill which is a very important bill I have to say. 
ACT New Zealand opposes this bill firstly because a mental health commission should not be necessary if the mental health division of the Ministry of Health were doing its job properly. I see in the explanatory note of this bill that the Mental Health Commission’s role is being expanded and our opposition to this bill is no reflection at all on the very good work particularly in the area of research that the Mental Health Commission does. But this bill is not necessary because that work should be being done by the mental health division of the Ministry of Health. The commission’s role is being expanded so that it will now advise and report to the Minister on the implementation of the national mental health strategy—something that those working in the mental health division of the Ministry of Health should already be doing—and secondly it will now promote and facilitate collaboration and dialogue about mental health issues. Again that is a role specifically for the Ministry of Health. 
The second reason that ACT New Zealand is opposing this bill concerns a matter that Maori Party members have raised and I support them wholeheartedly in that matter. They worry very clearly about the independence of the Mental Health Commission. The commission consists of three commissioners and 16 core staff and seven members on the advisory committee as well—and they are appointed by the Ministry of Health. The commission’s independence then is very much in doubt. If we are to have a Mental Health Commission—and it is clear that this bill will go to a select committee because ACT is the only party opposing it—then these things need to be taken into consideration. I would urge the Health Committee when it considers this bill to consider very carefully the issue of the independence of this commission and to write those relevant clauses into this legislation specifically. 
There is a great deal of difficulty with the area of mental health in this country. Three percent of the population at any one time requires treatment for a mental illness. That is quite a high proportion but it is consistent with that in other populations around the world. 
The main problem in the area of mental health is that of workforce shortages. Doctors and nurses are being recruited constantly particularly in the area of mental health—[ 
Interruption 
]—and it is a pity that again Labour members cannot see fit to listen carefully to this debate when we have people in this country suffering badly from mental illness. Locums are the norm in many psychiatric departments in the hospitals around this country—not locums who come and spend any length of time in New Zealand but frequently locums from America and the United Kingdom. They are well-trained locums but they come usually for a period of only 3 to 6 months. If any area requires continuity of care it is the area of mental health and having continuity of care is one of the big problems in relation to the workforce shortages experienced in the psychiatric area. 
As one other speaker also alluded to—I think it was Dr Coleman—I too lament the inability of well-experienced enrolled nurses to work in this sector any longer. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Excuse me but would members please keep their private conversations at a level that enables the member to be heard. Thank you. 
HEATHER ROY 
: Thank you Madam Speaker. Enrolled nurses have been completely sidelined so that they are now able to work only either under the supervision of registered nurses in general practice—which precludes many of them because some practices do not employ registered nurses—or in the area of aged care. The mental health sector was propped up very well and very ably by experienced enrolled nurses. Those nurses had a lot of skill and many many years—in some cases up to 20 years—of experience in the area of mental health. Sadly that is a great loss to the mental health sector. 
Blueprint issues and district health board underspending are also of great concern. Those should not be issues that have to be looked at and commented on solely by a mental health commission. Again they are areas that should be looked at by the mental health division of the Ministry of Health and it seems that this is not the case. One billion dollars nearly 10 percent of the health budget is now spent on psychiatric care—the care of the mentally ill. 
The Mental Health Commission is due to expire on 31 August 2007. It should not be necessary to extend that term because in the first instance the commission was put in as a short-term measure. The role that it has played should have been picked up and run with by the Ministry of Health. Unfortunately that has not been the case so we will have effectively a doubling up of people a doubling up of numbers and a doubling up of roles because the Ministry of Health is failing in its mission to provide adequate care for those with mental illnesses in this country. 
ACT New Zealand opposes this bill for the two reasons I have pointed out: firstly the lack of independence of the commission and secondly the fact that the commission should not be necessary if the Ministry of Health were ably carrying out its role in this area.