Teen in crisis sent home alone; mum

Hundreds of young Kiwis are being denied access to mental health services, writes Cate Broughton.

A vulnerable Wellington teenager was sent home from a hospital emergency department on her own, despite the pleas of her anguished mother.

Ministry of Health documents obtained by the Sunday Star-Times show thousands of mentally unwell young people, assessed as non-urgent, wait longer than eight weeks for a second appointment after an initial assessment.

Under a ministry target for DHBs, 95 per cent of youth referred to mental health services should have their first treatment within eight weeks.

The figures reveal 3297 children teenagers, or 26 per cent of all cases in DHB mental health services, waited longer than eight weeks for follow up treatment in the 2014-15 year.

Wellington woman Lynne Russell’s experience is struggling to access health services.

Her daughter was deeply affected her father’s suicide eight years ago.

Russell found it ‘‘almost impossible’’ to get affordable counselling for her and her other teenagers.

At 14, daughter depression and made suicide attempts.

As a result she was referred to the Hutt Valley District Health Board (DHB) child and family mental health service.

Follow-up treatment came quickly she was deemed high-risk.

But when treatment ended, Russell felt the family were left to cope with her daughter’s still fragile mental health.

Her depression continued throughout her teenage years and Russell’s worries grew. I have a suicidal teenager... and they just didn’t have the staff to cope. typical of strained and families mental by had developed the first of many as

At 19, Russell’s daughter made another suicide attempt when her mother was out of the country and she was hospitalised for two nights.

Despite Russell’s pleas, her daughter was discharged before she could get home.

‘‘No-one listened to us. So, we had a 19-year-old mother who had made a serious suicide attempt, not her first . . . whose father suicided and whose mother – her main source of support – was out of the country, and yet the DHB sent her home.’’

‘‘My experience is of ringing the crisis mental health team and saying I have a suicidal teenager and being told they just didn’t have the staff to cope.’’ ’ Senior lecturer in clinical psychology at Massey University Dr John Fitzgerald said there was no set criteria for determining which patients would wait longer than others, but this was determined by each DHB according to levels of need and their mental health budget.

Fitzgerald said staffing shortages and a lack of resources made it impossible to treat youth urgently after an initial assessment.

Minister of Health Jonathan Coleman said 74 per cent of clients waited less than eight weeks for their second face-toface appointment.

‘‘At the first appointment a clinical assessment is done and a treatment plan put in place.

‘‘If it’s appropriate to have an appointment on another date this is scheduled, and if urgent they are seen within 48 hours.’’

The number of young people waiting longer than eight weeks varied across all 20 DHB services from 10 per cent in Wairarapa to 53 per cent in Lakes District DHB.

In Canterbury, 37 per cent of clients were waiting longer than two months.

Funding for mental health and addiction services increased from $1.1 billion in 2008/09 to more than $1.4b for 2015/16, Coleman said.

Christchurch Methodist Mission executive director Jill Hawkey said staff were very aware of long waiting lists for second appointments as child and adolescent mental health services only take children with severe mental health issues.