Background
11 percent of all 111 calls involve a mental health component. Of the 11 percent, fewer than 5 percent include a reported offence. This is why NZ Police, the Ministry of Health and Health NZ, along with Hato Hone St John and Wellington Free Ambulance, are working closely together to change the way agencies respond to mental health.
At the heart of these changes is ensuring people who need it, receive the care they deserve from the right professionals when they need it. Their safety and that of kaimahi delivering that care is paramount. This is why agencies have committed to slowly phasing in the changes, starting with:
- reducing the amount of time Police spend in emergency departments with voluntary patients (people that are not detained under the Mental Health Act)
- reducing the amount of time Police are involved in mental health patient transportations
- reducing the amount of time Police are called into mental health inpatient facilities.
Police want to avoid traumatising and negatively impacting those experiencing mental health.
These changes will see an increased health-led response, enabling Police more time to deploy to the work that only Police can do, and the community expects them to do.
Police will continue to respond to health sector requests for assistance involving an immediate risk to life and safety – just as they always have.
Health NZ, the Ministry and Police are all committed to working together to ensure any potential issues are identified and worked through, to enable a smooth transition through the changes in the Police response.
Phased approach
The programme will be delivered across 4 phases:
Phase One
- Voluntary handovers at Emergency Departments (EDs): Police have streamlined the process for handing over individuals seeking voluntary mental health assessments at EDs.
- Mental Health transportation requests: Police routinely receive requests to assist with Mental Health transportations. Police require mental health services to complete comprehensive risk assessments before involving Police in transportation requests.
- Police attendance to Mental Health facilities: Police presence at mental health facilities will be reduced, especially in mental health wards.
Phase Two
- 60-minute ED Handovers: For individuals detained under the Mental Health (CAT) Act 1992 for a Mental Health assessment, and transported to EDs, Police will hand over to health staff and depart within 60 minutes unless an immediate risk to life or safety exists.
- Mental Health custody rules tightened: To support people requiring a mental health assessment (where there is no criminality involved), our custody suite rules will be changed to prevent mental health assessments from taking place in them and ensuring national consistency of practice.
Phase Three
- Requests for assistance from health practitioners: Police will apply the new response threshold to requests from health practitioners. Noting, Police will still respond to health sector requests involving an immediate risk to life or safety.
- Missing Mental Health patients: A significant number of Police missing person reports are generated from Mental Health wards and Health facilities. Police will reassess responses to missing persons reports from mental health facilities, aligning them with the new threshold to reduce unnecessary involvement.
Phase Four
- 15-minute ED handovers: For individuals transported to EDs, Police will hand over to health staff and depart within 15 minutes unless there is an immediate safety risk.
- Welfare checks – from the public and other agencies: Police are considering their response to welfare checks when there is no risk of criminality or to life or safety. There are a lot of complexities to these changes and further consideration and consultation will occur before any final decisions are made.
OIAs
Police is releasing responses to some Official Information Act requests, where it is considered, they contain data and information with wider public interest.
Resources and related information
- People in mental distress presenting via 111: transitioning to a multi-agency response – Proactive Cabinet paper release
- Manatū Hauora Ngā Pirihimina o Aotearoa: Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Health and New Zealand Police