Better ‘local voice’ for health – Little

opportunity to strengthen and enrich community input into health services, Little said. This would be achieved via locality planning networks with appointed members.

Those ‘‘localities’’ still needed to be worked out, he said. They might be geographical or represent a community of interest spanning more than one geographical area. The members of those networks would then ‘‘work up a health plan’’ and get agreement with local iwi.

‘‘That’ll be the basis on which a commissioning decision is made by the regional division of Health NZ to fund local services,’’ Little said.

The South Island would ‘‘almost certainly’’ be one of those regional divisions, he said, but when asked if it would be based in Christchurch, he was not sure.

‘‘There will still be, for example, a Health NZ office in Nelson, because their job will be to make sure that the locality planning network approach is functioning, and we’re drawing in the right level of community representation.’’

Little was at Ma¯pua to announce the next tranche of funding for the Government’s rollout of frontline services nationwide to support people with mild to moderate mental health and addiction needs.

Under the programme, health improvement practitioners and health coaches have so far been embedded with general practice teams across 15 DHB areas.

The latest tranche, of $145 million over two years, will enable the remaining five boards, including Nelson Marlborough, to fund the programme, as well as covering an expansion of services in areas that already have the roles in place.

‘‘It means that we can start to deal with an avalanche of frontline mental health needs,’’ Little said.

So far, about 430 fulltime equivalent positions had been created, he said, which would rise to about 700 by the end of the planned four- to five-year rollout of the programme.

Designed to take pressure off GPS and provide help to people quickly, the free programme had ‘‘proven to be very effective’’, Little said.

‘‘That early intervention means that person isn’t going to wash up to our more acute mental health services a few months later in a much more serious sort of state.’’

Ministry of Health Mental Health and Addiction Directorate primary and community wellbeing group manager Jo Chiplin said 43 per cent of people were seen the same day they sought help, and the vast majority within three to five days.

‘‘I feel really heartened every day by the stories that we’re beginning to hear about the impact that these services are having on people’s lives,’’ Chiplin said. This included that it was the most helpful service people had encountered, where someone ‘‘truly listened’’, and how easy and natural it felt to get the service from their GP practice.

‘‘And on more than one occasion, we’ve heard, ‘This literally saved my life’.’’

Nelson MP Rachel Boyack said she was delighted by the announcement. ‘‘We know that this is a real game changer for mental health. It [patients] can get support really early and quickly, and at low cost or free – and these services are free – then actually, long term they’re less likely to need acute care.’’