The Public Service Association (PSA) wants clarity from the Government after confusion yesterday over whether the Suicide Prevention Office would close or not as the Ministry of Health looks to cut jobs.
According to a PSA statement yesterday, part of the ministry's current proposal includes the closure of the Suicide Prevention Office.
Minister for Mental Health Matt Doocey said he was "disappointed" by the PSA's statement, which he called "misleading".
He said the office "will remain open" – but this morning, PSA national secretary Duane Leo said he was surprised by Doocey's apparent surprise at the union's statement. Leo said the union needs clarification, suggesting the minister is at odds with the ministry.
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"We made sure that, when the information was given to us, we checked it thoroughly," he said. "When we put together our response, we also went back the ministry to clarify that.
'We're surprised the minister wasn't aware'
"They didn't inform us that that was incorrect.
"In terms of being caught by surprise... These proposals went back to the relevant ministers in government, they signed off on these, so we're actually quite surprised that he wasn't aware of this."
Leo maintained the union understood the current proposal includes the office's closure. He said Doocey's statement that the office would remain open was "good news" – but the proposal would need to be amended for that to be the case, he added.
"We'd like to just be clear. If the minister is saying this won't be affected, will they alter the proposal that was tabled yesterday?
"If the minister's saying [the closure] is not the case, that needs to be communicated with the Ministry of Health and also that proposal needs to be changed."
Cuts to the public service
The dispute comes against a backdrop of proposed cuts across the public service.
Doocey said: "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.
Along with the office's closure, the PSA said the proposal also included reducing by half the number of staff working on suicide prevention. The remaining staff would be dispersed across the ministry after the office's closure, the union said.
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.
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".
Ministry of Health transformation programme office director Geoff Short confirmed the ministry was in a consultation process with staff on organisational change.
'Mental health workers deserve better'
Labour mental health spokesperson Ingrid Leary said health workers and the sector deserve better than this from the ministers that are supposed to be championing them.
“One hand obviously isn’t talking to the other in the Beehive, as Matt Doocey desperately scrambled last night in a statement to media in which he contradicted the Minister of Health and leading Ministry officials," she said.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if people now see the much-hyped Minister of Mental Health role as tokenistic, an unfair perception given the seriousness of mental health in New Zealand – someone just forgot to tell National."
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