Great Minds: Number of psychologists in Northland needs to be doubled

Northland DHB employs 24 psychologists but a clinical psychologist believes that number needs to be doubled. Photo / Tania Whyte

Lockdowns were tough for recovering addicts. Many users who were previously free of drugs or alcohol resorted to old habits while stuck at home.

Psychologists, in turn, have had to seek support to cope with the workload.

Simon Waigth,a clinical psychologist with addiction services employed by the Northland District Health Board, said the number of professionals in his area of expertise needed to be double the current 24 working across the region.

His comments followed figures released to the Association of Professional and Executive Employees (APEX) by NDHB under the Official Information Act (OIA) which shows 24 full-time and part-time psychologists working at various public hospitals across Northland as of April 7.

The youth mental health service Te Roopu Kimiora had the most (3), followed by Far North Mental Health (2.8), Whangārei South Community Mental Health (2.5) and Whangārei Child Health (2.4).

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"There are seven to eight full-time equivalent positions in Northland. A lot of services have only one or two psychologists whereas some have none and there are all sorts of reasons for that," Waigth said.

He said it has always been difficult working in public health, especially the conflict between use of medication as opposed to therapy preferred by psychologists.

"The main struggle for people is their addiction to some sort of substance. Alcohol plays a big part and although it is the most popular, it's not the only one. Methamphetamine, opiates and cannabis are also commonly used.

"A lot of people who stopped using these substances, because of the lockdown went back to their old habits. Substances abuse pre-Covid was still high but it's increased with more people at home."

Waigth, who is an APEX union delegate, said psychologists who were under stress applied therapy they advocated for their patients, coupled with supervision from work colleagues, to get better.

"In our work, we try to bring some understanding as to what's going on. Education, skills, therapy and medication all help and that's what psychologists also rely on should they need help."

He said a steady increase in the number of psychologists in Northland should be seen over the next seven to 10 years.

"To be fair, the Northland DHB has been proactively trying to bridge that gap. A lot of psychologists have gone to private practices because of better pay and working conditions."

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APEX union national secretary Deborah Powell said data released under the OIA showed there were 148 (or 20 per cent) of psychologist positions vacant across district health boards and the Ministry of Education nationally, and staff turnover was as high as 60 per cent in some regions.

"This information explains why so many New Zealanders cannot access the psychological care and support they need."