Children and teens missing mental health services, says report

4.00pm

Troubled children and teenagers are being denied access to mental health services, because of a lack of services and a severe shortage of trained staff, says the Mental Health Commission.

In a report released today, the commission said only 1.1 per cent of people under 20 were seen by a mental health service in the six months to June 2003 -- less than half the Government's target of 3 per cent. That included drug and alcohol services.

Talks with child and adolescent mental health staff suggested that adolescents were being denied care at a stage when mental illness was developing, until it became severe, the commission said.

That went against the Government's goals of early intervention.

"Failure to meet the needs of young people puts at risk their social development, educational achievement and future employment prospects," chairwoman Jan Dowland said in a statement.

There were only 60 per cent of recommended inpatient bed numbers for young people at June 2003.

Just 0.03 per cent of under-20s -- 404 people -- were admitted to hospital for mental health treatment in the six-month period.

An international shortage of trained mental health staff was compounding the problem, with children and young people community vacancies rising from 12 to 14 per cent nationwide in 2002-3, the report said.

Worst affected was the northern region, where 22 per cent -- more than a fifth -- of publicly funded jobs in youth mental health were empty at June 2003.

That compared to an 8 per cent vacancy rate across all community mental health services.

"This shortage of community support workers is particularly serious in services for children but is apparent across virtually all services," Ms Dowland said.

New Zealand was working hard to attract, train and retrain staff, but it would take "several years" to reap rewards.

Ms Dowland said she was concerned that there had been little improvement in services for young people despite a $469 million increase in mental health funding since 1993/4.

The commission's yearly progress report monitors the implementation of the Government's mental health strategies.

A spokesman for Health Minister Annette King said the minister was concerned at the findings, and planned more funding in this month's budget for mental health services.

"Having the workforce, that has been the slowest thing in getting the blueprint implemented," he said. However, the Government had been "pouring money" into its mental health strategies.

It had also extended the life of the commission for another three or four years, to continue its "vital" work implementing the blueprint, he said.

- NZPA