Health experts say the mental health and addictions workforce is in crisis, with hundreds of unfilled vacancies, leaving staff stressed and overworked and patients unable to get the help they need. It is said that there is no.
Figures obtained by RNZ show there were around 650 mental health and addictions jobs available at New Zealand Health.
Shaun Robinson, chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation, said the high numbers were frustrating.
“This is not enough and reflects decades of neglect and lack of planning around mental health by multiple governments, particularly in relation to the workforce.
“It makes me sad. It makes me angry.”
The figures show there were 656 vacancies in New Zealand as of March 31, including 380 registered nurses and 130 psychiatrists.
The NZ Department of Health is working to obtain the latest figures, but mental health staff told Checkpoint they had not seen any changes over the past few months.
Robinson said the shortage is not surprising.
“This level of vacancy did not arise overnight. Although it has been on the rise over the past decade, politicians and the health system itself have been very slow to address the vacancy.”
The number of job openings doubled between 2018 and 2022 and remained high thereafter.
Mr Robinson said the government’s mental health workforce plan and its specific targets were a significant change, but building staffing levels could take five to 10 years.
“It’s not what the public wants to hear, it’s not what politicians want to say out loud. Everyone wants an immediate way to improve their mental health, but unfortunately Because it doesn’t exist.”
New Zealand Nursing Association Mental Health Chair Helen Garrick said mental health and addictions services had been in crisis for some time, with difficulty attracting skilled and experienced specialist nurses.
“The impact is that there is a lack of resources in the key areas of acute inpatient forensics and community mental health facilities, which means that these services cannot meet the needs of the people who attend them. It means that our services to people in the field are diminished.” ”
This caused stress for staff and patients.
“Every nurse I speak to across the country says they are understaffed. I think there are probably some areas where staffing is difficult, but overall, most services are understaffed. I think you are struggling with this issue.”
Dr Hiran Tabreu, president of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, said a shortage of psychiatrists meant people who needed early intervention were not getting help and were becoming more unwell. He said there was.
“That’s one in five positions vacant and we know that has a huge impact on the workforce.
“People are in this profession to take care of people, so in situations where there is a severe workforce shortage, they often feel like they can’t do their best for their patients, and that really affects them. ”
Tabreu said staffing was difficult to attract in certain regions, such as Northland, and recruiting some specialist psychiatrists was particularly difficult.
“We know that certain specialties have been affected more than others.
“There is an even greater shortage of psychiatrists in child and adolescent mental services, perhaps around one in four, rather than one in five as in other specialties.
“I think young people are disproportionately affected by the labor shortage.”
Matt Doocy’s appointment as Minister of Mental Health is a good start, and there have been improvements in data collection, including a recent study that found the average age of psychiatrists is 55.
Tableu said it’s bad to make decisions based on data from 20 to 30 years ago.
New Zealand’s Ministry of Health says there will be a workforce program this year aimed at growing and upskilling the mental health and addictions workforce, and an international campaign to recruit experienced workers has been underway since February. He said he came.
Earlier this year, Checkpoint revealed that senior addictions clinician Dr Leon Nixon flies in from Australia to Palmerston North Hospital one week out of every four weeks and works remotely the other three weeks.
New Zealand’s Ministry of Health said a short-term agreement to address service gaps ended in August and local staff are now carrying out the work.
