New Zealand's Suicide Prevention Office "will remain open", Minister for Mental Health Matt Doocey says, as the Ministry of Health looks to cut jobs as part of cost saving measures.
Labour health spokesperson Dr Ayesha Verrall said there were 134 "crucial" positions set to be disestablished at the Ministry of Health. They included roles in regulation, monitoring and suicide prevention.
The proposed cuts are part of the ministry's efforts to find savings and efficiencies — something the Government has demanded of public sector leaders.
According to the Public Service Association, part of the ministry's proposal includes the closure of the Suicide Prevention Office, which is responsible for the country's Suicide Action Plan, which Verrall said had seen suicide rates reduce for the last three years.
However, Doocey told 1News this evening he was "disappointed" by the PSA's statement, which he called "misleading".
"The closure of the Suicide Prevention Office has not been raised with me and I have spoken with the Director-General of Health to make my expectations clear that the office will remain open and that the suicide prevention work programme will continue."
The Suicide Prevention Office was established in 2019 under recommendations of the Government Inquiry into Mental Health and Addiction.
The Public Service Association (PSA) said the proposal included closing the office and reducing by half the number of staff working on suicide prevention. Others would be dispesred across the Ministry.
It also included disestablishing the Suicide Prevention Office's director — which was currently vacant — as well as the senior advisor Māori.
PSA national secretary Duane Leo said the Government should be investing more in suicide prevention to stop families from suffering its tragedy, "not making these cold-hearted and dangerous cuts".
"This was an Office that was set up for a good reason, it developed the first national suicide prevention action plan and was working closely with communities experiencing high rates of suicide."
There were other roles — including specialist roles — related to mental health and addiction in the firing line, according to the PSA.
Also included in the proposal were cutbacks for specialist teams in the clinical, community and mental health directorate and downgrading the drug checking services function and the loss of people doing important work in mental health and addictions.
Leo said the proposals made a "mockery" of the Government's new portfolio of Minister for Mental Health, and called on Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey to overturn the cuts.
"The Government has made a clear choice — it has the money to invest in a public service that meets the challenges we face today and tomorrow, but would rather give $15 billion away in tax cuts."
In March, Doocey told TVNZ's Q+A mental health had "always been a poor second cousin to physical health".
He said his role worked in health but also other government departments, considering strategies in other areas such as education, corrections, social development, housing and others.
Doocey said establishing the role of minister sent a "very clear signal that [mental health] is a priority".
He said he had been examining the system, setting up the role and “taking a look under the hood” over his first 100 days.
The mental health and tourism minister spoke about his goals for his ministerial portfolios. (Source: 1News)
Verrall had said she was concerned the country was "going backwards to a time before the recommendation of the Inquiry into Mental Health and Addiction recommendation to strengthen and unify roles in this important area". She said this was coming in the face of a government which had "made a song and dance about establishing a Minister for Mental Health".
Verrall — the former Minister of Health — said New Zealand would feel the harm of the coalition Government's "reckless cuts" to jobs at the ministry "for generations".
"The Ministry of Health is proposing nearly 1 in 5 jobs are cut — a scale which will mean New Zealanders get less out of their government and the services that it provides.
"These are not simply back office roles, they are roles that include regulation and monitoring of the health system. When our health regulatory system fails, people get hurt, like they were with surgical mesh.
"Monitoring roles support the Minister of Health in overseeing $26 billion in health expenditure. If Te Whatu Ora’s performance fails to improve, cuts in this area may well be why."
Verrall said tax cuts were "not worth losing the very people who help prevent suicide in this country".
Ministry of Health clinical community and mental health deputy director-general Robyn Shearer said suicide prevention remained a priority for the Ministry, and changes to its organisational structure aimed to "make it more coherent and consistent".
The mental health and addiction team would continue to lead the suicide prevention action plan.
Ministry of Health transformation programme office director Geoff Short confirmed the ministry was in a consultation process with staff on organisational change.
"The proposals arise from changes in priorities, proposed changes to improve efficiency in the Ministry, changes to our structure to make it more coherent and consistent, and changes in order to meet our future budget.
"The Ministry needs to continue delivering on the Government’s priorities while staying within budget in this more fiscally constrained environment."
It included consideration of the organisational structure, voluntary redundancy and a freeze on pay rises for those "above midpoint".
The loss of 134 positions was a proposed net decrease, some of which were vacant roles. A total of 137 new positions were proposed with 271 proposed to be disestablished — over 25% of the ministry.
Final decisions will be made by the end of June, with a new organisational structure due to be in place in August.
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