An overstretched mental health crisis team in West Auckland was last night telling people calling its emergency number to dial 111 instead.
The Critical Assessment Team (CAT) attached to Waitakere Hospital left a message on its answerphone saying it was "temporarily unable to provide a service dueto lack of resources".
The message said: "If there is a risk of any immediate danger please contact emergency services on 111. Alternatively, you can contact the emergency department at your local hospital."
But after the Herald called the chief executive of the Waitemata District Health Board, Dr Dwayne Crombie, who contacted staff immediately, the message was removed.
Public Service Association organiser Warwick Jones said the Critical Assessment Team has been taking industrial action since April 16.
There have been six occasions since then on which the answerphone has been switched on and staff have refused to take new patients.
The Herald was unable to contact workers at the unit but mental health staff across Auckland have long complained about a lack of intensive care unit beds.
In March, the Herald revealed acutely psychotic patients were being locked in police cells regularly in West Auckland, some for 24 hours or more, because of the bed shortage.
The Minister of Health, Annette King, has ordered a review of mental health services in the Auckland region.
Dr Crombie, who was surprised when told about the message, said he believed staff and management had come to an "understanding" about the resourcing issue.
Management believed staff were not sticking to the "spirit of the understanding" but staff felt they had to make a stand.
They had told him they had been listening to messages on the speakerphone and had planned to respond to calls from existing clients.
While the board accepted there were not enough beds, it believed there were other ways of supporting mentally ill people in the interim.
These included sending respite nurses to people's homes - and keeping people in police cells for short periods, even though this was "undesirable".
Dr Crombie said the CAT West and the team attached to North Shore Hospital were overwhelmed by the sheer volume of patients.
"We've got one in nine people in New Zealand that we look after."
