'There is nothing I won't do to have the truth told about my child'

In his practice, he regularly faces the frustrations of getting patients referred. He's faced the frustrations of the system as a parent, too. And the tragedy of his talented, high-achieving, 22-year-old son taking his own life while under the watch of Auckland community mental healthcare.

"I take the view that my son's death was completely preventable," says the Auckland GP, who spoke to the Weekend Herald on condition he wouldn't be named - a restriction he says is not to protect him, but his family still coming to terms with their loss.

Like many, he sees mental health as the Cinderella of health services but believes, with a simple change of policies and attitudes, many lives lost through suicide could be saved: "My estimation is that 250 people would survive per year."

The problems begin with admission: "If I have a patient come in with a life-threatening illness and in need of urgent hospital assessment, I ring the doctor on call and 99 per cent of the time they will be admitted."

Compare that with getting someone who says he or she is suicidal admitted to a mental health service. "We can't speak to a doctor. We have to fax a letter and then someone from the crisis team will telephone the patient at home - sometimes hours later."

As a doctor, he's horrified that the patient isn't seen face-to-face and doesn't believe an adequate assessment of someone's mental state can be made over the phone.

"Why is it that a GP's opinion as to the need for hospital assessment is acceptable for other illnesses but not with mental health?"

Then there's the lack of resources, especially in trained staff to provide talk therapy and in places to provide respite care. "My son was putting his hand up for help. They didn't take that seriously and reached too quickly for the prescription pad."

Mindful of the pressures health services face, he was sympathetic to the difficulties his son's mental health provider was under - a position, in hindsight, he wished he hadn't taken.

"I should have been beating the drum. My son was seeking refuge from his many demands, a sanctuary which he didn't get."

The doctor also followed medical council guidelines about not treating his own family. "I stood off and very much regret that now."

The lack of empathy for mental illness shocked him to. "At Auckland A&E we were made to feel our son was not a sick person - that he had just taken an overdose and just been a silly boy. We left without being spoken to by a doctor. We felt guilty - that we had imposed on these people."

He says communication and the exercise of the Privacy Act are different in mental health services.

"If one of my patients goes to the emergency department of a hospital, I have all the details in my inbox the next day. If they are seen by mental health services, we are lucky to be posted or faxed information over the next couple of weeks."