Thursday, May 13, 2004

Lack of mental health services alarming (New Zealand)
Brief New Zealand National Party press release at Scoop - " It is an indictment on the Labour Government that a key finding of this week's Mental Health Commission Report shows 'inpatient beds for children and young people is only at 60% of recommended levels, says National's Associate Health spokesman Dr Paul Hutchison..." See also the ACT New Zealand press release at the same site of an address by Heather Roy - " It is the Labour Government's failure to provide anything that even approaches a reasonable mental health system, which has prompted me to speak out about this today. The size of the mental health sector is often overlooked, but it is a major area of public spending. . This financial year, the Government will spend around $800 million on mental health. This amount has been rising steadily since 1993 and, at the current rate of increase, we can expect it to pass $1 billion by the end of the next Parliamentary term. So how do we compare internationally? Well, we currently spend more per capita on mental health than Australia or the US. And this excludes spending by the Corrections Department to create 'special units' - which are, in reality, psychiatric wards within the prison system. But we are not getting value for money..."