The deadline for public submissions on the Ministry of Health’s Suicide Prevention Strategy closed today, and the People’s Mental Health Review has been gathering submissions for a joint submission.
The submission invited people to call for the suicide prevention plan to take into account the concerns expressed in public by Mike King, when he stood down from the external consultation panel of the Suicide Prevention plan, and further to include the four recommendations of the Peoples Mental Health Report in any suicide prevention planning.
Over five hundred people responded and ActionStation will be making this joint submission on behalf of those individuals.
“The people who contributed to this crowd-sourced submission shared personal stories of their struggle to get help when they desperately needed it,” says ActionStation Co-Director Marianne Elliott, “And stories of the tragic and painful outcomes when that help was not available. These stories will come as no surprise to the vast majority of New Zealanders. Our hope is that the courage of the 500 people who submitted their stories to this submission will be rewarded by having their concerns taken seriously by the Ministry, along with their hopes and recommendations for a better strategy for reducing suicide in New Zealand.”
The presentation will be made to the Ministry of Health, and hand delivered Monday the 26th June.
“Concern amongst the public remains very high, and the feeling that the Government is not taking this issue seriously enough has not changed since the release of the People’s Mental Health Report in April this year” says Kyle MacDonald, Psychotherapist and People’s Mental Health Report spokesperson. “Mike King resigned in the hope that the Ministry of Health, and the Government might start to listen to the concerns in the community, listen to the fact that New Zealanders want action to halt our terrible suicide rate. Unfortunately the Draft plan as published is nothing but aspirational, empty promises.”
The People’s Mental Health Report was a crowd funded and crowd sourced review into the state of Mental Health Services in Aotearoa New Zealand. You can download a copy of the report here: https://www.peoplesmentalhealthreport.com
