Source: Radio New Zealand
Police said they will progress with the final phase when it is safe to do so. 123RF
The final phase of police’s withdrawal from mental health-related call-outs has been delayed, and police say it will only progress to the next phase when it is safe to do so.
The police’s Mental Health Response Change Programme had raised concerns from health workers, unions and mental health advocates since its onset in late 2024, at a time when hundreds more health workers were being assaulted at work.
The programme took a phased approach and was initially planned to be completed by September 2025, but now police say it is taking longer than expected, and that it is working with Health New Zealand (HNZ) and ambulance services
“The aim is to progress to phase four as soon as it is safe to do so,” assistant commissioner Tusha Penny said in a statement.
Phase four was initially planned to include reducing Emergency Department handovers to 15 minutes, and police changing their response to welfare checks, according to the police’s website.
Penny said at this stage, Police could not confirm dates or details for phase four of the mental health response changes.
Superintendent Bronwyn Marshall said Data to measure time spent in EDs was complex and difficult to quantify, and that police had been reviewing how implemented changes were going.
Mental health nurse Helen Garrick, speaking in her capacity as a New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) delegate, said Inspector Matthew Morris (Health partnerships manager) told an audience at a conference in February that phase four was delayed, and that police were looking at which other agencies could do the welfare checks.
She said welfare checks were important, and it would be risky if there were no alternative agencies to conduct the checks.
“The worst-case scenario is that people who are in extreme states and high levels of distress would be left at home in those circumstances.
“And possibly people who have overdosed would not be brought to the attention of the health services, and so potentially we could have lives at risk if there are no welfare checks being carried out,” she said.
Garrick said patients and mental health nurses had also been really affected by changes over the past year, and she believed there needed to be a full review of the programme.
The Public Service Association’s national secretary Fleur Fitzsimons said the delays to phase four showed police were aware that the changes were not working.
“This pause is a surrender, it’s an admission that the systems and processes for police withdrawal from mental health were never put in place correctly,” she said.
Fitzsimons welcomed the delay of phase four.
Last November police rolled out phase three, which involved new thresholds for non-emergency mental health call-outs. Health workers said police were now less likely to respond to people missing from mental health facilities and emergency departments.
In the same month, a mental health worker was assaulted, and according to the PSA, the worker made three emergency calls that went unanswered.
The PSA’s complaint to the Police Conduct Authority was still being considered.
Fitzsimons said it had also asked the police watchdog to review the entire programme, but that request was declined.
“It is not good enough that the Independent Police Conduct Authority’s response was that they do not have the resources to investigate police withdrawal from mental health,
“We need to see the police and Health New Zealand fundamentally rethink their approach to police support,” she said.
The chairperson of the New Zealand branch of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine, Dr Michael Connelly, said there had always been concerns with the blanket 15 minute ED handover.
“The worst case scenario is that someone within the ED, their staff or other patients or family members are injured or worse,” he said.
Dr Connelly said it was good that police were taking their time with rolling out the changes.
He said it was the higher risk patients that they were concerned about, and the policy should consider this cohort.
Rotorua ED nurse Lyn Logan, speaking in her capacity as an NZNO delegate, said they were worried about further withdrawals from police.
She said things could boil over quickly in EDs which were already under-resourced.
“We’re obviously worried, with the cauldron, we’ve got an ED with under-resourcing to both ED nurses and doctors and mental health nurses.
“That’s going to boil over when it’s the safety of our staff that we’re worried about, and then of course, you’ve got the vulnerable people that are coming to us at crisis that are going to be sort of in that mix as well,” said Logan.
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey said Health NZ (HNZ) officials had told him that no serious incidents could be linked to the changes, including the assault on the mental health worker.
HNZ said it did not expect staff to put themselves at risk, and continued to monitor the changes already in place.
Karla Bergquist, its director of specialist mental health and addiction, said in a statement that if any unintended impacts of the change programme were identified, those would be addressed.
Last year, the government announced an extra 40 FTEs for Mental Health Crisis teams nationally, but neither the minister Matt Doocey nor HNZ could say how many of the roles had been filled.
Police minister Mark Mitchell said ministers had sought assurances that patient and staff safety was prioritised at each phase of the programme.
He said the PSA suggesting that the delay was a sign of police admitting that the programme was poorly thought out from the onset was misleading and baseless.
Mitchell said the delay highlighted the ongoing care and commitment from Police and Health to implement each phase when safe to do so.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
