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WELLINGTON - Prisoners with mild to moderate mental illness may not be getting the help they need because it is not clear which department has responsibility for them, a parliamentary committee heard today.
A report by the Office of the Auditor General, released last month, said the provision of mental health services for prisoners was under pressure because of rising prison musters but those with severe conditions were generally well cared for.
However, the auditors have expressed concern that those with mild to moderate mental illnesses might not be getting the help they need because it is 'unclear' which government agency is responsible for them.
Parliament's law and order select committee was today given a briefing by officials from the auditor-general's office who looked at mental health services for prisoners.
Andrew McConnell, law and order sector manager with the auditor-general's office, said the responsibility for mental health services in prisons was split among the Department of Corrections, Ministry of Health and district health boards, particularly the DHBs' regional forensic psychiatric services which provided specialist mental health services to prisons.
Mr McConnell said that in the past identification of prisoners' mental health needs had been 'fairly poor'.
The Ministry of Health estimated that prisoners were three times more likely than the general population to need mental health services.
Ten percent of the prison population experienced an illness requiring specialist mental health care.
"And also, it is estimated around a third of prisoners could be experiencing mild to moderate mental health issues," he said.
It was 'unclear' who was responsible for providing services to prisoners with personality disorders, such as psychopathy and narcissist behaviour.
This had been recognised by the government agencies "but we've found that prisoners with personality disorders aren't well serviced in the current environment".
The ministry and the department had to establish which one had responsibility for this area of work and set it out in the memorandum of understanding they operated under.
Government agencies could also be doing more for women and Maori prisoners with mental health problems.
There was a new screening 'tool' the prison service was rolling out which was picking up 'more people who have mild to moderate mental health needs.
"We think it's important that prisons decide what on earth they're going to do to provide services to this part of the population," he said.
He also said that while training was provided to prison staff, targeted training could be beneficial to help them identify behaviours that could indicate mental health needs.
Improvements had been made to mental health screening when inmates first arrived at prison, but there was no periodic screening of the mental health of prisoners over the term of their sentence.
"While we're satisfied that acute mental health needs are being addressed...it's not always timely."
There was high demand for in-patient beds which both the ministry and department were aware of and were trying to address.
MPs on the law and order committee said they had been hearing for years about problems with helping inmates with mental illnesses.
National MP Simon Power said the system was not working for prisoners who had mild to moderate mental illnesses.
"Both the Department of Corrections and the Ministry of Health get to stand there and stare at each other and say it's not my responsibility and that's ultimately were the system is falling down for that group of patients who aren't acutely unwell," he said.
New Zealand First MP Ron Mark, who chairs the committee, said there had been a 'catastrophic failure' in the system as MPs had heard for years that 22 percent of inmates suffered a mental illness.
- NZPA
