Nurses Call For Immediate Halt To Police Withdrawal

Police withdrawal from mental health call outs should be
stopped until Te Whatu Ora makes critical resources
available, the New Zealand Nurses Organisation Tōpūtanga
Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa (NZNO) says.

Phase Two of
the changes come into effect on Monday (14 April) but police
have delayed the starting date in all but five districts,
saying other areas are not ready. The new phased roll out is
the second time police have rescheduled the
changes.

NZNO Mental Health College chair Helen
Garrick says the health sector is not ready for the police
withdrawal either.

“This is a matter of
safety for everyone, including the people who need mental
health support, their whānau and the mental health
workforce.”

The first phase of the
changes officially came into effect last November, but Helen
Garrick says NZNO mental health nurses report the police
withdrawal actually started long before that.

NZNO
agrees with the Mental Health Foundation there is no
adequate plan to support the transition away from police
attending mental health call outs, she says.

“The
police withdrawal should be stopped until the following
resources and agreements are in place:

• Resourcing
  for new crisis hubs to be staffed by a qualified mental
  health workforce 24/7.
• Purpose built safe spaces
  attached to hospitals or community centres, staffed 24/7 and
  suitable for people experiencing mental distress, and their
  whānau, to wait for mental health assessment. Emergency
  Department waiting rooms are completely
  unsuitable.
• Resourcing for nationwide co-response
  teams – consisting of a minimum of a mental health nurse and
  police officer – to transport people under the Mental
  Health Act.
• Increased staff for mental health
  crisis teams and a commitment to workforce development and
  filling current vacancies, without the creation of an
  associate psychologist qualification.
• Leaving
  decisions about mental health risk and the need for police
  assistance in the hands of mental health staff, not police
  communications.”

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