Things are getting tough for the Government in the mental health field, given the fact that while they’ve denied all calls for a full review of the mental health system, they have simultaneously been running a secretive ‘consultation’ exercise asking
“people who have experienced the mental health system, their families and clinicians, as well as academics and lawyers working in the sector…..whether they think the now 25-year-old Mental Health Act is working.”
In one of the more curious admissions by the Ministry of Health’s Mental Health mogul John Crawshaw, when discussing the ‘consultation’, he stated “Ninety-nine per cent of the time they get it right, but occasionally there will be outcomes” in reference to the 167,000 annual mental health ‘treatments’ by Govt-funded services.
By my calculator’s reckoning, that means they are admitting to about 1,700 mistakes annually.
How many of the 570 deaths from suicide annually in New Zealand are amongst those ‘mistakes’?
Of the 3,000 people who have viewed a post my partner placed last weekend on our son’s memorial Facebook page about the so-called consultation, only one person has claimed to have heard of the activity.
My partner is a ‘community rep’ on Waikato DHB’s mental health services review, and she had never heard of it; I’m a DHB member elected with a mandate to work on mental health issues, and neither I nor our Board have been told about it; perhaps the most active community mental health organisation in the country – Dunedin’s Life Matters – only heard about the consultation when it was closing; our son’s lawyer, very experienced in Coroners’ hearings into suicide cases, has not heard of it.
Like the lip service paid by almost all Govt agencies to concepts like ‘community, ‘family’ and ‘whanau’, the word ‘consultation’ is listed beside one of the boxes senior Govt managers are required to tick, before continuing with their ‘we know best’ practices.
Consultation – by any sensible definition, involves
- Ensuring affected parties are given full information about issues in the field to be consulted about
- Ensuring affected parties receive adequate time and have adequate resources to be on at least close to a level playing field with the proposers
- Ensuring the proposers hear and understand the ‘consultees’ points with completely open minds
- Ensuring the proposers fully consider those points before coming to any conclusion.
- Interestingly, this is even close to the legal definition arrived at when Air NZ did over Wellington Airport for lack of genuine consultation in a 1980s case.
Among many issues apparently raised during the consultation was apparently the one about the best model of care, and whether that was the old ‘mental health institutions’ like Porirua, Lake Alice, Tokonui, etc. or the current, so-called ‘community care’ model, where as many ill people as possible are treated in the community, often regardless of the risk posed to themselves or others.
While very few want a return to a ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ scenario, the current system is manifestly not working; NZ suicides are at record levels, and the highest in the world for some groups; a series of mental health service ‘mistakes’ have led to a raft of preventable deaths in a number of regions; mental health service staff, after years of being cowed into submission, are starting to speak up; and families of people with mental illness – as many as quarter of the population – are decrying mental health services as ‘shameful’, ‘disgusting’, ‘appalling’ and other more unprintable words – have a look at the comments on the FB page Nicky Autumn Stevens for confirmation.
As previously predicted, there WILL be a proper review of the mental health system – circumstances will force, and are forcing it on the Govt. There are too many, who have been hurt too much, for the issues to quietly go away.
Dave Macpherson is The Daily Blog’s mental health blogger after losing his son to mental health incompetence. He is also a member of the Waikato DHB after campaigning against their incompetent mental health services.
Lets be clear, if the 1700 mistakes were of a monetary value, this Govt would move heaven and earth to find out the reason why.
As was the case in the Bank’s and Key teapot tape saga, whereby the value of the elderly to NZ was of no concern, people seem to be expedient to National. The rational is we’ll just keep rolling the numbers across the border to keep our population levels high and the economy flowing. National have no value on life, only money. National have no social morals as evidenced by Paula Bennett’s social benefit policies and Coleman’s complete arrogance in not funding mental health to the capacity that is required. Most people recognize what is required in mental health including yourself David, somehow Coleman didn’t get the memo.
The time to act is this year, we must vote what appears to be the most corrupt Govt in history out. By doing this we will put the people of our country first and foremost.
And here is more evidence:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/89624342/christchurchs-specialist-mental-health-services-on-a-knife-edge
….. eventually they might. But not before trying to move heaven and Earth and Tex Paya expense ‘lawyering up’ to avoid any admission of guilt or taking responsibility for their actions. It’s now the default stance.
For me, the signs of hope are that we now have retrospective investigations into various areas of abuse (such as with the Catholic Church and elsewhere).
The problem with Masters of the Universe is that they don’t think there’ll ever be an opportunity for revue of past mistakes, policies and actions
Mussolini thought that as well.
I’d have hoped sense would have prevailed and that it will never get to that in my lifetime. Now I’m not so sure. I hope not but the signs aren’t that shit hot
well said Bert agree with you 100%
Which country has a better system than NZ in this regard?
So you can’t address the point without deflecting off somewhere else, Gosman?
That says quite a bit for you and your ACT party.
The issue is in our own country, no where else! Your comment is pointless.
Very Few! But I hope you are not arguing that we sit back and do nothing?
I feel for Dave McPherson and his loss but the very nature of medicine is being comfortable with uncertainty.
We have diagnostic tests which at best of times is 70% accurate. Many medical tests when used inappropriately would produce more false results than true results.
Medicine is not mechanical science where one expects 99.9999% true results.
I am sorry 99% is better than is ever possible especially in mental health. Jonanthon Colemans’ statement that 99% we get it right, is just meaningless political talk.
I would be extremely happy with 99% in mental health, especially in the view of the subjective nature. 99% is an extreme optimistic exaggeration, i.e. BS, one should be not making an extrapolation of the ‘missing 1%’.
Input rubbish; output hogwash.
Like many others would have found, hearing Mike Hosking attack the National Party which he is normally the biggest cheer leader for, was striking. Given how brazenly he has supported so many other National policies, is it saying something that their biggest cheerleader thinks they have made a huge mistake?
Please everyone ignore trolls like Gosman.
What do you all think: should Dave Macpherson be running for Parliament…he may be one of the only people with morals and ethics involved in NZ public life! And he has political experience. How about it? Any party want to approach him as a candidate??
Comments are closed.