Whanganui crisis cafe in works as police pull back from mental health callouts

Whanganui support services are hoping community cohesion and a crisis cafe can fill the gap as police pull back from mental health callouts.

The Government announced the changes last August, with phase one beginning three months later.

That included police shortening the time taken to hand over people seeking mental health assessments at emergency departments (EDs) and mental health services completing comprehensive risk assessments before involving police in transportation.

Rana Te Huia, general manager of mental health and addiction service Balance Whanganui, said there had been concerns from families about the changes.

“They’ve rung [Whanganui Hospital’s] mental health team and have been told to call the police.

“When the mental health team isn’t responding and the police aren’t responding, what can they do for a person they care deeply about?

“We need to put resources into that - strengthening whānau who are looking after people in distress.”

That included more “education and support workers”.

Phase two of the changes began in five districts on April 14.

Health NZ Te Whatu Ora’s director of specialist mental health and addiction Karla Bergquist said Whanganui would be included in “later tranches”.

Phase two changes mean police will hand over people detained for a mental health assessment and taken to EDs to health staff and leave within 60 minutes, unless there is an immediate risk to life or safety.

Mental health assessments where no criminality is involved will not be held in police custody rooms.

Whanganui police will soon spend no more than 60 minutes with people needing mental health assessments at ED. Photo / Eva de Jong

The Whanganui district was planning for the rollout and would only “go live” for phase two once it had been endorsed by a governance group, Bergquist said.

“We want to reiterate that our focus is on ensuring people receive the right care at the right time while maintaining staff safety and the integrity of our services.”

Health NZ Te Whatu Ora did not respond to questions about whether Whanganui Hospital’s mental health crisis team would be expanded or if the team would be required to attend more callouts.

Te Huia said Balance and iwi-led mental health and addiction service Te Oranganui were applying for a Health NZ contract to run an after-hours crisis recovery cafe in Whanganui, which would be “a game-changer for people”.

“It will be somewhere safe and warm to go when someone is feeling distressed, rather than getting to the point where police are called or they’re dropped at ED,” she said.

“A police cell or ED are not places you want to be when you’re distressed. It’s not conducive to wellbeing.”

She said a lot of people who needed help did not deserve to be responded to by police.

“It can be heavy-handed and creates stigma and discrimination.”

Community House Whanganui manager Shelley Loader said mental health support had been dumped on police who were now “overcompensating”.

“Really, there needs to be some involvement from everybody,” she said.

“There should be hope and, basically, that’s what the crisis cafe is all about.

“There are people who care. They might not be able to fix the world’s problems but they can sit with you.”

Whanganui MP Carl Bates (National) said the changes were about providing appropriate support from appropriate people.

“Those that are seeking assistance deserve a mental health response, not a criminal justice response,” he said.

The Government’s last budget put more money than ever - $17 billion - into the health sector, “with a focus on frontline staff”.

“Also, this [change] isn’t a steamroller that will happen regardless,” Bates said.

“Each phase will only happen if and when it is safe to do so.”

He did not know when phase two would come into effect in Whanganui.

Community House Whanganui manager Shelley Loader says agencies need to collaborate rather than work in silos. Photo / NZME

Loader said agencies and organisations should discuss ways to collaborate and use available resources wisely.

“We need to support each other rather than work in silos, and collectively address gaps in service delivery.

“At the end of the day, police are people, hospital staff are people and those experiencing mental health issues are people.”

Police Assistant Commissioner Mike Johnson said police, like many other agencies, were facing challenges with demand.

“As such, we have begun refocusing back into core policing services to help keep our communities safe, he said.

“Regarding mental health events, police will always have a role when safety is an issue but it just needs to be the right role.”

Research showed that nationally half a million hours of police time a year were spent servicing events with a mental health component, Johnson said.

Mist (Mental Illness Survivors Team) manager Renee Kaponga said any gaps in the system needed to be addressed collaboratively.

She said after-hours services and accessibility were key.

“A lot of community services are Monday to Friday, 9 to 5, but mental health doesn’t discriminate or have a time.”

Hāpai Mauri Tangata, a partnership between police and Te Oranganui to respond to mental health-related callouts, was an example of how collaboration had been positive for Whanganui, Kaponga said.

“If you look at other regions, a crisis recovery cafe has been operating in Palmerston North for several years.”

Te Huia said Balance had set up a “koha cafe” which operated on Saturdays and the crisis recovery cafe would be an extension of that.

“Last Saturday, we had 73 people come through, and they were people who wouldn’t normally engage with a mental health service,” Te Huia said.

“Ideally, the koha cafe will be from 4-6.30pm, then the crisis cafe can stay open until 10pm from Thursday to Sunday.”

Mike Tweed is a multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.