The Auditor-General plans to investigate youth mental health services after the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission found wait times for young people had gotten longer.
National MP and mental health spokesperson Matt Doocey wrote to the Auditor-General in April asking that he inquire into the Government's 2019 $1.9 billion investment into mental health and addiction services.
Doocey's request came after the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission found there had been no change in access to specialist mental health services in five years despite the billion-dollar cash injection.
The review found that wait times for mental health services had not decreased over the past five years, and wait times for addiction services were longer. Wait times for young people to access specialist mental health services continue to be high.
A 21 percent increase in young people accessing antidepressant drugs is noted in the findings, along with a 15 percent increase in the total population of young people aged under 20 accessing primary mental health services.
The Auditor-General on Friday responded to Doocey's request. He said since there have been several reviews of the Government's 2019 mental health package, the focus of his investigation will be on the effectiveness of mental health and addiction services for young people.
"My office will look at what public organisations with responsibilities for mental health and addiction services understand about young peoples' current access to services, as well as the extent, distribution, and causes of unmet need for services among this group," he wrote.
"This will include examining the performance measures by which government agencies track and publicly report on access to services, as well as what public organisations are doing to address any gaps or delays in care."
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern earlier this month acknowledged that access to specialist mental health services requires improvement but she said the Government focussed on building up primary care first.
"The very specific focus that came from those who had experience of the system and those who worked in the system was the complete absence of primary mental health care. That was adding extra pressure to acute needs," Ardern said in Parliament.
"That is why we have built a primary mental health system for the first time in New Zealand's history. It is providing tens of thousands of appointments for New Zealanders who previously had no access to early mental health support.
"At the same time, we know we need to continue to build tertiary acute care. It's a particular focus for us to build the workforce, which in some cases takes up to five years to create."
The Government last month launched a new two-year recruitment campaign to bring on more mental health nurses.
More than 200 new-entry places for registered nurses to specialise in mental health have been funded from the $77 million workforce development fund, part of Budget 2019, and it's hoped the campaign could help double that number.
It couldn't come soon enough, with figures released by Doocey on Friday showing almost double the number of mental health nurses are leaving the workforce than joining.
In a written response to Doocey, Health Minister Andrew Little said all 234 new-entry places for registered nurses to specialise in mental health have been filled for this year. But 452 registered nurses who specialise in mental health have left.
"The recruitment of 234 new mental health nurses will do very little when 452 mental health nurses left last year. This is devastating for those trapped on ballooning waitlists and their families," Doocey said.
"The Government needs a plan for growing the workforce and addressing our urgent mental health challenges. It's not good enough to simply announce funding and then walk away without ensuring that the investment can deliver results."
Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission Board chair Hayden Wano said despite significant investment in mental health and addiction services in 2019, "improvements in services have not materialised as we had hoped for over this time".
However, he sees potential in the Government's half-a-billion-dollars health restructure, with the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to be replaced with the new centralised Health NZ that will work in partnership with a Māori Health Authority.
He said it will "provide opportunities to embed strong leadership in their operating models and enhance the focus on mental health and wellbeing" and also creates "an opportunity to hear the voices of Māori and people with lived experience and provide a greater choice of support".
The first nine localities to replace the 20 DHBs were unveiled last week, with the aim of ensuring local voices are heard. Between 60 and 80 localities are expected to be up and running by July 2024.
