To be attributed to Health NZ Chief Executive Margie Apa

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora and the Ministry of Health - Manatū Hauora are working with Police to change some of the ways agencies respond to mental health.

The change will see an increased health-led response, supporting Police to focus on core Policing.

As health agencies, our interest is in improving access to mental health services for people that need them in a timely way, while ensuring the health and safety needs of our workforce, patients and their whānau continue to be met.

This is all about getting the balance right.

Police will continue to respond – just as they always have – to mental health events with immediate risks to life and safety, keeping members of the public and our workforce safe.

There will be other times, however, when a health-led response is more desirable. For example, the potential stigma for a distressed person of waiting in ED for a mental health assessment can be exacerbated if they are accompanied by Police.

The change programme will introduce higher thresholds for Police responding to some mental health events from November, with further changes rolled out in three stages over the following 12 months.

Ensuring the transition is managed safely for people who need mental health services, our workforce and the public is a top priority for Health NZ, the Ministry and Police.

All three agencies are committed to working together to ensure any potential issues are identified and resolved before final decisions to activate each phase are made.

Health NZ is working with clinical experts, ED representatives, health and safety specialists, security staff and others to put a robust operational plan in place.

One of the factors we will need to consider as part of our transition planning is our on-going mental health workforce shortages.

The one-year change programme announced today is part of a wider five-year transition plan underway to move to a multi-agency response to 111 calls, with less reliance on a Police-led model.

The plan includes a range of initiatives, such as improving the responsiveness of telehealth services, trialling peer support in EDs, and ongoing safety improvements in EDs and hospital spaces more generally.

The one-year change programme announced today is aligned to this longer-term plan.

Further information on the health-led aspects of this change plan will be made available over coming months.