Scott Lynda: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
Scott Lynda: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
[Volume:607;Page:4408] 
4.  
Dr LYNDA SCOTT (NZ National—Kaikoura) 
 to the  
Minister of Health 
: Does the ongoing situation of keeping unwell patients with a psychiatric illness in police cells constitute a crisis in mental health services; if not why not? 
Hon TARIANA TURIA (Associate Minister of Health) 
 on behalf of the 
 Minister of Health 
: No. Keeping patients in police cells when they should be under the care of health services is an unacceptable situation in isolated parts of Auckland. It does not represent a crisis in mental health services. 
Dr Lynda Scott 
: Given that in November last year the Mental Health Commission’s review of Auckland mental health services documented unsatisfactory planning delivery monitoring and funding of mental health services why are we still seeing stressed-out psychiatric crisis workers saying: “What is going on right now is unsafe and wrong. There is going to be another disaster like Lachlan Jones who killed his flatmate then committed suicide.”; and what does the Minister intend to do to protect patients and the public? 
Hon TARIANA TURIA 
: In December considerable resources were put into the Auckland area to address that issue. We too are concerned that things have not happened as quickly as they could have happened. Waitemata has been working very hard to put both short-term and long-term strategies in place to address those issues. 
Steve Chadwick 
: Although political attention is always focused on the very small number of people needing forensic mental health services what action is being taken to address the 17 percent of the population who have mental health needs but who are not considered to be seriously unwell? 
Hon TARIANA TURIA 
: The Government has done a lot of work in that area. For example from 1 July this year primary health organisations will be funded to provide services to people with mental health needs. Workforce development initiatives have taken place such as Te Rau Matatini and Te Rau Pani which recruit retain and enhance the Maori mental health workforce to deliver relevant and appropriate services. The Knowing the People programme which focuses on developing local solutions is currently being trialled by five district health boards. 
Ron Mark 
: How many more New Zealand families have to be destroyed and how many more New Zealanders have to die or be bashed or maimed before this Government finally accepts that its ideological drive to restructure mental health services in this country back in the 1980s—which was initiated by Helen Clark and followed on by Jenny Shipley—has been a dismal failure; and when will we see what the people of New Zealand want which is a competent thorough mental health service and a reinstitution of institutions in a form that will take care of those problems? 
Mr SPEAKER 
: There were three questions there. The Minister may comment on two. 
Hon TARIANA TURIA 
: Any death in the community or in an institution is unacceptable. I remind that person that the majority of deaths that occur in New Zealand are not committed by people who are mentally unwell and we have put a further $264 million into the mental health system since 1997. 
Sue Bradford 
: Which if any of the major recommendations of the Auckland mental health review have actually been implemented on the ground given that the holding of mentally ill people in police cells was one of the main reasons for the review and that this practice is still happening? 
Hon TARIANA TURIA 
: A number of initiatives have been put in place to address that issue. There are three extra intensive care beds at Te Atarau; six community rehabilitation beds have been purchased; a further six packages of care is being contracted by the funding team and will be available in mid-April; an extra four respite beds are available through rest care in Auckland and the staffing vacancies in the Community Assessment and Treatment Team have been filled by locum mental health staff. So as of today there is only one vacancy. 
Judy Turner 
: With mental health workers admitting they are not completing or following many aspects of the formal policies due to their workload does she consider the advancing of funding to the Auckland area adequate when the staff clearly indicate no relief and patients are still being held in prisons; if so why? 
Hon TARIANA TURIA 
: Considerable resources have been put into the area of mental health in the Auckland area. In fact the total mental health staff numbers are 1079 just in the Waitemata area and of that number 989 are full-time staff. 
Dr Lynda Scott 
: Will this Government accept that deinstitutionalisation has gone too far and we do not have enough acute beds hence patients in police cells or enough rehabilitation beds so patients are discharged too early or enough community care workers because they are all leaving due to stress; and what is the Government actually doing right now to solve this crisis for patients in police cells today? 
Hon TARIANA TURIA 
: I have already answered the question about what we are doing today. There is no evidence to show that the deinstitutionalisation of mental health patients is at a crisis point as suggested by the member.