NZ Police and Health New Zealand are rolling out Phase Three of the Mental Health Response Change Programme following the successful implementation of Phases One and Two.

The programme aimed to increase a health-led response to mental health, freeing the Police to focus on work only they could do and which the community expected.

Police Assistant Commissioner Mike Johnson said Health NZ and the Police were committed to working together to safely introduce the changes, so that those in mental distress received appropriate care and staff delivering it were kept safe.

“We are determined to get this right and have been taking the time to ensure the plan for Phase Three and its implementation will be safe and clear.

The Phase Three changes were rolled out nationally across all Police and Health NZ districts.”

Police and Health NZ took feedback from district teams and collaborated to create a more streamlined process for submitting and processing non-emergency requests from Health NZ, while also updating the Police response threshold for managing them, Johnson said.

“Under Phase Three, any non-emergency requests for assistance and missing person reports from mental health services will be assessed against updated guidance that considers the immediate safety risk and if there is a risk of significant future harm that Police powers or capabilities are required to prevent.”

Health NZ director of specialist mental health and addiction Karla Bergquist said the safety and wellbeing of patients and staff delivering their care was paramount.

“The detailed planning work for Phase Three identified a range of scenarios that cannot be managed by health practitioners alone, or where there may be a need for Police assistance in a co-ordinated, planned way.

“We therefore needed to take these situations into account to ensure the changes could be implemented in a safe way that works for both agencies, so have developed new procedures with clinical input and created training materials for staff to support them through this change.”

Johnson said the updated threshold and new procedures ensured compliance with the agencies’ respective legislative responsibilities while still aligning with the goal of freeing up Police to be redeployed to work only they could do.

“Police will continue to be involved if there is offending, of a level that we would normally attend, or an immediate risk to life or safety – as has always been the case.”

Bergquist said the changes were aimed at creating a system that supported everyone’s mental wellbeing so people were supported to stay well and had access to help that worked for them.

“The public can be assured there is a range of services to help people in mental distress or those who are concerned about the mental health of whānau.”

If a person was in serious mental distress or crisis, support was available from their local crisis team.

If it were a life-threatening situation or someone was in immediate danger of harming themselves or others, emergency services should be called on 111.