Mental Health Matters Newsletter
Kia ora tātou,
The Primary Mental Health team have been very busy with lots of referrals to our service, with this demand there is some delay for triaging of those referred, we are stiving to contact people within two weeks of their referral to discuss their needs and options for support, we continue to prioritise our target populations.
As we process referrals routinely with limited resources, it is very important that those requiring urgent intervention are referred to the appropriate service for support, such as the Crisis team, who can respond urgently.
Our funding for Individual counselling continues to be inadequate for our population. Within your practices your assistance in ensuring the people who most need our support are the ones referred, is most appreciated. If you have a HIP in your practice, please utilise their skills for the management of people who are presenting requesting mental health support in the first instance.
Our contract is for the provision of Brief Intervention, for those presenting with mild to moderate mental health issues, we cannot fund long term therapy or diagnosis, priority is given to those who have not accessed therapy previously.
Our service is unable to provide support for people who already have counselling in place through ACC, or who are under the care of secondary services such as Community Mental Health.
Attention deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or Autism Spectrum Disorder P athway
We had previously advised the network regarding the pathway for accessing Ministry of Social Development (MSD) financial support for people seeking diagnosistic clarity and treatment for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ADHD/ ASD). We have been notified by MSD that this policy has changed, to bring it in line with what is occurring nationally.
Please see the below information we have received from MSD.
“We (MSD) have had significant discussions across involved teams, the final decision is that we are not able to fund ADHD/ASD assessments within our current legislation and policies, for the following reasons:
• It does not meet criteria under DA, as it is a one-off assessment as opposed to ongoing disability cost.
• It does not meet criteria for SNG / Hardship funding as it is not related to an emergency and is not life-threatening.
• It does not meet criteria for funding within the Designated Health Practitioner process, as this is used only to ascertain eligibility for welfare support. “
While there remains no public pathway for adults presenting for diagnostic clarification or management of their symptomology, a referral to secondary services may still be an important step to take for your patient. We hope that with the
demand for this intervention being noted, and recorded statistically, as an unmet health need, there may evolve a plan for service development to address the needs of this population. We look forward to working with practices to meet the mental health needs of our enrolled population.
Ngā Mihi nui, Naomi Malcolm Programme Lead Primary Mental Health ServiceThis communication is confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, you should not read it – please contact me immediately, destroy it, and do not copy or use any part of this communication or disclose anything about it. Thank you.