NZ Police announced plans last August to phase out attendance at mental health call-outs over a year, starting in November. They said it would allow officers to focus on “core policing”.
Phase two of the changes were due to come into effect this coming Monday, April 14. However, police have delayed the starting date in all but five districts, saying other areas are not ready. The new phased roll-out is the second time police have rescheduled the changes.
‘This is a matter of safety for everyone, including the people who need mental health support, their whānau and the mental health workforce.’
NZNO mental health section chair Helen Garrick said the health sector was not ready for the police withdrawal, either.
“This is a matter of safety for everyone, including the people who need mental health support, their whānau and the mental health workforce.”
The first phase of the changes officially came into effect last November, but mental health nurses have reported that the police withdrawal actually started long before that, Garrick said.
She agreed with the Mental Health Foundation that there was no adequate plan to support the transition away from police attending mental health call-outs and it should be stopped until:
- Mental health crisis hubs, staffed 24/7 by a qualified mental health workforce, were established.
- Purpose-built safe spaces, attached to hospitals or community centres and staffed 24/7, were established.
- Spaces suitable for people experiencing mental distress, and their whānau, to wait for mental health assessment were established. Emergency department waiting rooms were “completely unsuitable”, she said.
- Resourcing for nationwide co-response teams — including at minimum a mental health nurse and police officer — to transport people, under the Mental Health Act.
- Increased staff for mental health crisis teams and a commitment to workforce development and filling current vacancies — without the creation of an associate psychologist qualification.
- Leaving decisions about mental health risk and the need for police assistance in the hands of mental health staff — not police communications staff.