Push for ‘suicide reduction target’
The Mental Health Commission is urging the Government to adopt a policy of ‘‘zero tolerance of suicides in services’’ following its independent assessment of the country’s mental health and addiction services.
Commissioner Kevin Allan also recommended the adoption of an overall suicide reduction target of at least 10 per cent.
Allan advocated for a broader focus from mental illness and addiction to mental well-being and recovery in the monitoring and advocacy report, released yesterday.
‘‘Looking generally, we need to have a broader focus on how we address mental health and promote that, and also in how we look after people,’’ Allan said.
‘‘The second thing is making sure we’ve got good leadership and focus. We need a collaborative approach - from consumers being more involved in their own care to leaders working together at ministry level and also service-provider level.’’
Allan said it was a coincidence his report, which he started work on a year ago, was being released just as Labour’s promised mental health inquiry is kicking off.
The report asked the inquiry to consider ‘‘the adoption of a goal of zero tolerance of suicides in services’’ and recommended the specific reduction target.
Ahead of the election, now-Health Minister David Clark said he was in favour of a reduction target, and said advice he had received pointing to a 20 per cent reduction ‘‘sounds reasonable’’.
It was unlikely Clark would set a target or take a position on it until after the Government’s inquiry had been completed.
Provisional statistics from the Chief Coroner showed 606 Kiwis took their own life in the 2016-17 year, up from 579 the previous year and 564 the year before that. Of those, 180 were suspected suicides in services, according to Health Quality & Safety Commission New Zealand data.
Allan’s report also discussed the pressure on services.
‘‘Many needs are left unmet,’’ Allan said. ‘‘Access to mental health and addiction services has grown 73 per cent over the last decade, while funding has grown only 40 per cent. More of the same is simply not OK. We need to be smarter about what we do and how we provide the most effective support for people.’’
Clark agreed with Allan that New Zealand needed to address the social drivers of poor mental health, including housing, income, education and social and cultural connections.
The country also needed to address inequities of treatment and outcomes for Māori, Pacific people and young people, he said.
‘‘As a country we can do more to identify and support people in need at an earlier stage. We need more prevention and early intervention.’’
These concerns were what led to community demand for the inquiry into mental health and addiction, which the Government announced last month.