The Government has announced it will begin publicly reporting how quickly young people are accessing mental health support as part of its quarterly mental health target results.
Mental Health Minister, Matt Doocey confirmed that from the next release, quarterly mental health target reporting will include a breakdown showing how quickly young people are accessing support against the Government’s three access targets.
“When I introduced these targets, I was clear that their purpose was to improve transparency and accountability. There is nothing that holds me more accountable than publicly reporting how we are tracking for everyone to see,” said Mr Doocey.
“It is only common sense that, alongside regional and ethnicity breakdowns, we also report how fast young people are accessing support.
“We know mental health is one of the biggest challenges facing young New Zealanders today, and I am determined to pull every lever available to ensure they can get the support they need.”
As of the most recent quarter, the below is how youth are tracking against Government targets:Â
- 77.3% of young people accessing specialist mental health services within 3 weeks;
- 79.5% of young people are accessing primary mental health support within 1 week;
- 73.1% of young people are being admitted, transferred or discharged from an emergency department within six hours.
Minister Doocey said a recent survey showed only 3.7% of young people who needed support said they couldn’t get an appointment.
“However, it also highlighted other barriers we must continue to break down, with 29.4% saying they did not know where to get help, and more than 35% saying they were too embarrassed to seek support,” he said.
“That tells us our work must go beyond increasing access. We also need to make sure young people know where to go for help and feel confident asking for it.
“That is why hosting New Zealand’s first Youth Mental Health Summit at Parliament was so important, and why I am committed to working alongside Youthline to implement the youth-led roadmap presented at the summit.”
The Minister thanked the Mental Health Foundation for its advocacy in ensuring the youth data is publicly released.
