17 MAY 2016

Damning Internal Report on Rural Mental Health

Information released to New Zealand First paints a damning picture of mental health and addiction services in rural New Zealand, says New Zealand First.

“Reports from the Rural Mental Health Initiative (RMHI), established within the Ministry of Health in Budget 2015 as an answer to the crisis in rural mental health, has identified ongoing concerns with the accessibility of mental health services in rural communities,” says Health Spokesperson Barbara Stewart.

“Having raised awareness of rural mental health issues, RMHI believes ‘rural health professionals and the system at large will not be able to accommodate the response required’ as there is ‘poor accessibility to counselling and psychological services’.

“The mental health figures released on Monday by Health Minister Jonathan Coleman are nothing but a smokescreen for the depth of problems within rural mental health services that his own established initiative is reporting to him.

“Minister Coleman needs to pull his head out of the sand and provide adequate funding for mental health and addiction services as currently they simply cannot cope with the weight of need within rural communities,” says Mrs Stewart.

ENDS

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