Suicide Prevention Office boss quits after two years

The head of the Suicide Prevention Office is leaving just two years after it was created.

Carla na Nagara is the second top mental health boss to leave the Ministry of Health in recent weeks, as the acting deputy director-general for mental health Toni Gutschlag has also stepped down.

An email to staff from new mental health boss Philip Grady, obtained by The Dominion Post, showed the ministry was not pleased with na Nagara’s decision to leave once her initial two-year contract ran out in October.

‘‘As we all know, it can be a tough environment working in the mental health space, and especially suicide prevention. So, while Carla’s decision is not welcomed, I completely appreciate Carla’s decision not to renew her contract,’’ the email read.

National MP Matt Doocey said the two departures showed the sector was in ‘‘disarray’’.

The ministry’s mental health performance has come under increasing scrutiny since it was revealed top managers had demanded huge redactions from a once-routine mental health report. New figures have also come to light showing child wait times and the use of seclusion were rising – despite a huge investment in mental health in Budget 2019.

Health Minister Andrew Little has publicly expressed his disappointment with the ministry, particularly over the construction of new mental health facilities.

The Suicide Prevention Office was created in 2019 as part of the Government’s response to its mental health inquiry. It was initially discussed as an independent entity, but has ended up remaining within the Ministry of Health, co-ordinating a $40 million budget.

The Dominion Post understands some uncertainty has surrounded the office because of its status within the ministry.

Mental Health Foundation chief executive Shaun Robinson said there had been a lot of shake ups in senior ministry leadership in recent months, which was unsurprising given the minister had expressed dissatisfaction.

He respected na Nagara, who previously worked as a coroner, but said the office had not done much in two years. The sector had expected the office to take on a co-ordination role, bringing together the wide range of suicide prevention schemes in the public and community sectors and building on them.

But this hadn’t really happened – something Robinson blamed ministers and the wider machinery of Government for. ‘‘In many ways I feel for Carla in that as a senior bureaucrat there’s only so much you can do sometimes.’’

Robinson said the health minister at the time – David Clark – had said he was taking on the recommendations from the inquiry but had then done little to actually make the sector more cohesive.

‘‘Ultimately, it is up to the minister to turn the ship around. He will find it difficult to do so if his top brass keep leaving.’’

Little’s office issued a brief response on na Nagara’s resignation, saying she had served the office well.

Grady said the office had achieved ‘‘positive milestones’’ and would remain within the Ministry of Health.

‘‘Under Carla’s leadership, the office has achieved positive milestones including setting up suicide prevention funds for Maori and Pacific community initiatives, establishing the Maori expert reference panel and providing national leadership to shift the conversation about suicide prevention,’’ he said.