Extra mental health funding welcome as long as workloads do not increase

“News of extra funding for mental health services in Canterbury will be welcome news for the senior doctors and other health professionals struggling to meet the post-earthquake need there,” says Angela Belich, Deputy Executive Director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS).

“The region’s mental health services are utterly swamped with work and staff are struggling to cope with demand following the earthquakes five years ago. Additional funding that relieves that pressure is good news for the region – as long as it doesn’t come with an expectation that staff who are already over-worked will be expected to do even more.”

Ms Belich was commenting on the Government’s announcement of an extra $20 million over the next three years to increase mental health support for people in Canterbury. This will include an extra 27 FTE primary care and community-based mental health workers, as well as further funding for programmes in telehealth and workforce wellbeing: https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/20m-mental-health-package-canterbury

“The workloads of psychiatrists in Canterbury is particularly concerning for the ASMS, and needs to be addressed urgently.”

ENDS

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