An HNZ release said the handover time in phase four of the police withdrawal programme for mental health patients would now be 30 minutes – and the previously planned time was not safe.
Phase four would have seen police handing over patients detained under the Mental Health Act to EDs in 15 minutes — down from 60 minutes.
“We have agreed that a universal 15-minute handover time is not currently safe, feasible and sustainable to implement, and a 30-minute handover is a more practical, realistic, and achievable next step,” the release said.
In 2024 NZ Police announced plans to phase out attendance at mental health call-outs over a year. They said it would allow officers to focus on “core policing”.
The plan was slammed by NZNO members and mental health nurses as making workers less safe.
Speaking to Kaitiaki, NZNO president Anne Daniels said there was no way that a safe hand-over could occur unless the correct number of staff was there to deal with the process.
“If there’s a police hand-over and the person is in hand-cuffs then the person [staff member] needs to know the legislation; they need to have the skill and knowledge to understand whether it’s going to be an okay decision to accept that person in the first place.”
Staff also needed to know if there was somewhere safe to keep the patient from hurting themselves or others.
“It’s a huge decision and it’s not something that can happen in two minutes.”
Daniels said many of the NZNO’s colleges and sections involved in areas affected by the programme had always known that it would never work. These nursing experts understood what would actually be required, she said.
“The fact is patient safety and staff safety weren’t being put to the fore . . . the worst part about it is that we need to have a public health system that’s going to meet the needs of people.”
‘We have agreed that a universal 15-minute handover time is not currently safe, feasible and sustainable to implement.’
Meanwhile it was not yet clear when phase four would begin — the release saying HNZ and police were “actively progressing work” on implementation and timing of the 30-minute change.
“So far, changes from earlier phases of the programme, have resulted in police officers spending significantly less time in emergency departments,” the release said.
Police announced in April this year that they would be pausing the roll-out of phase four — after warnings over safe capacity to deal with the changes.
The release said HNZ did not expect staff to put themselves at risk or remain in dangerous situations.
“There may be times when staff need to withdraw from an unsafe situation until appropriate risk management measures are in place.”
The release said police data between May and July this year revealed 84 per cent of handovers were completed within 60 minutes and of that 50 per cent within 30 minutes.