Minister of Health sees no mental health crisis
Is the Pope a Catholic?
Of course it’s broken; let’s look at a few reports from the last fortnight:
· 50% of children under 11 referred for a specialist mental health assessment had to wait three or more weeks
· Mid-Central DHB (Palmerston North) has suspended some of its mental health programmes in order to meet their Government-set budget
· 800 kiwi kids under 11 had to wait more than eight weeks
· a young man recently diagnosed as bipolar was given unsupervised leave from the North Shore DHB – his body was found a few days later on a nearby beach
· a retired mental health nurse called for the establishment of village-type residential care for unwell people, as the move away from institutional care had led to many falling between the cracks
· Southern DHB is accused by the Mental Health Commissioner of “failing to provide services to [a young mental health patient] with reasonable care”. He was found dead.
· A high proportion of suicides among farm workers were of young people
· Police refuse to accept applicants undergoing some types of mental health treatment. Labour MP Stuart Nash agrees; both later back down.
· Wellington DHB confirms cuts in mental health beds – claim move is just temporary.
· 35 mental health unit patients at Palmerston North Hospital acknowledged to have left in last year without staff knowledge.
And all this from just one fortnight.
As a former City Council colleague stated once, “You’d have to be brain dead from the waste up, not to see something was wrong here!”
It seems Health Minister and wannabe Prime Minister Jonathan Coleman fits that description. According to him, nothing is broken and no review of mental health services is needed. His Ministry of Health lapdogs, Director-General Chai Chuah (a qualified bean-counter) and Mental Health Director John Crawshaw agree, and enthusiastically trot out Coleman’s mantra whenever they get a chance.
Despite suicides being at record levels, and NZ having the worst record in the world for young male suicides, every call made for a full-scale enquiry into the country’s mental health services is rebuffed by the Government with a statement that always includes reference to a $300M mental health budget increase made over the last few years, as though that makes everything right.
Dave Macpherson is TDB’s mental health blogger. He became a Waikato DHB member after his son died from mental health incompetence.
Dave, some help is on the way, what with increased policing, a record pay equity settlement, inflation to hit key targets, $10 MILLION FOR ROAD SAFETY STAFF and National supporting the Greens country of origin bill and many other exciting policies, I’m certain something is in the pipeline.
Call me cynical but one just may think it’s election year. Why weren’t any of the above done years ago? National are only now fixing “their” mistakes.
Of course Mental Health in NZ is broken under neoliberal/zombie economics, the breakdown of the mental health system began in the 1980’s with many patients put back into the community and mental health units closed down.
Most of the people in our prison system have mental health problems, why do you think they are in prison?
My earlier comment that we should concentrate on what may be the CAUSE of mental ill health and not the dealing with it is laid out in an earlier TDB comment : https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2015/07/07/why-the-hack-of-hacking-team-is-so-important-to-new-zealand-media-need-to-ask-key-the-following-questions/
BUT
GWEN TOWERS do so much more:
http://sitsshow.blogspot.co.nz/2017/04/gwen-towers-total-control-cell-phone-tower-scalar-technology-for-mind-control-and-disease-tesla-ufo-et-voices-in-head-biology-telepathy-and-more.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+StillnessInTheStormBlog+(Stillness+in+the+Storm+Blog)
WE MUST LOOK AT THE CAUSE which is staring us in the face:
https://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/scalar_tech/esp_scalartech04.htm
There is a direct correlation between Asian Immigration, methamphetamine imports and rising Auckland house prices, have a think about it along with increasing mental health problems?
National’s Social Engineering Program?
The government is full of talk and slogans, and elections coming up, will present more token gestures and window dressing. All those who have had a mental health crisis themselves, and those knowing persons who had so, they are well aware that community mental health services cannot deliver, are under resourced and basically send most people back to their GP, with or without medication, nothing else.
The private sector is full of self serving “experts” who offer counselling and whatever else, they charge at least 180 dollars, often over 200 dollars a session, that may only be for 45 minutes. WINZ only pays so much, upon application, and often wants to see results after a few sessions, and then stop paying.
Mental health is the poor unwanted child in the family of health care, it makes easier results and better headlines to simply boost elective surgery processes, as most are struggling to get even that.
I am not at all surprised that many not getting attention after first encounter with mental health services, do simply end up in prison or take their lives.
This is the big shame of NZ society, there is some talk, but not enough walking the talk, when it comes to mental health care and services.
The change in metal health care in the 1980s moving to a Community Care regime demonstrated the actual value and concerns the establishment had and has for the mentally affected.
Community Care ment closing the expensive institutions and putting patients on the street ,sure they could attend a clinic as an outpatient, receive their meds which they either took all in one go ,sold or did not take at all.
This is community care as I know it and not many people in a position to make a difference gave a toss.
More of the status quo I guess.
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