12. Question No. 12—HealthMATT DOOCEY (National—Waimakariri) to the Minister of HealthQuestion No. 12—Health12. MATT DOOCEY (National—Waimakariri) to the Minister of Health: Can he confirm that since 2017-18 the average wait-time for child and adolescent mental health services has got worse across at least 16 of the 20 district health boards?Hon ANDREW LITTLE (Minister of Health): I am aware that wait times have increased slightly over the last five years for child and adolescent mental health services around the country; however this is also consistent with increased access to services over this time period meaning that more people are receiving support. Child and adolescent mental health services are funded to see children and adolescents up to the age of 18 with the highest level of mental health or alcohol and other drug needs. I have been advised that the Ministry of Health provides DHBs with guidelines on data reporting through its Programme for the Integration of Mental Health Data known as PRIMHD"—the data collection programme. However as this data is collected and aggregated at the DHB level it's not possible to verify the consistency of the data that the member in reports made public today has himself collated. One of the challenges we have in the system about getting accurate data is because of the nine years of underinvestment by the previous Government in IT infrastructure.Matt Doocey: In light of the Minister's response when he used the word "slightly" how does that reconcile when some DHBs are reporting an increased wait time under his watch from 34 days to 59 days?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: My answer referred to the slight increase across the system as a whole. Across the system as a whole those wait times have increased between 5 percent and 7 percent and that is because of the growing number of young people getting access to the services which is pushing those times out.Matt Doocey: Why then when the Minister refers to years of underfunding in the former National Government were reported waiting times stable and declining under the last National Government when under his Government they have increased significantly?SPEAKER: Order! The member just can't ask about why something was declining under the National Government. That is not his responsibility.Matt Doocey: Does it concern the Minister with all his announcements of investment that waiting times for child and adolescent mental health services were stabilised and declining under the former National Government yet under his watch they have increased significantly?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: What I think has happened is that expectations have increased because this is a Government that has put a lot more—way more—into mental health and addiction services than the previous Government did. More people are getting more access to services and it is putting pressure on those services but that's why we have given ourselves four to five years to transform a system that was so badly run down by the previous Government.Matt Doocey: Why will the Minister not take responsibility for the fact that waiting times for child and adolescent mental health services have increased significantly since Labour came to office despite promising to increase access?SPEAKER: OK. I'm going to ask the member to rephrase his question. The member starts off with an assertion which has not been as yet justified.Matt Doocey: Will the Minister take responsibility for the reported waiting times for child and adolescent mental health services that have increased in the last three years?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: What I will take responsibility for is continuing the incredible work that this Government has been doing to rescue a poorly neglected and run down mental health and addiction service putting more investment in it and helping more people who have desperately needed it for so long.Matt Doocey: Why when we are constantly told by the Government that they have invested new money into mental health services are there reports from mental health professionals stating the money is not flowing in?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: Well just to put some context around that what I can say is that this Government has put an additional $318.4 million of ring-fenced funding around specialist mental health services in the last three years compared to the previous three years which was $194.5 million. So we have nearly doubled what the previous Government had put in over an equivalent period of time. The services in this country around mental health were so badly run down and that's why we've had to give ourselves a five-year time frame to transform them to do the investment and to transform them. That programme of work is 20 months in. We have a way to go and we're doing our best to help the people who most desperately need it.Matt Doocey: Will the Minister commit today to releasing the data for waiting times in mental health services?Hon ANDREW LITTLE: All information and all data that has been publicly available will continue to be publicly available and that member has himself produced material from publicly available data. So we will continue to honour that commitment."