Whakamātūtū is on the brink of closing down after ACC pulled its funding. Photo: supplied
A client of a Wellington depression treatment centre says the service is "vital" in helping her to work towards returning to employment.
The Depression Recovery Trust's Wellington treatment centre, Whakamātūtū, is on the brink of closing down after ACC pulled its funding.
Earlier this week, Whakamātūtū board chair Dame Diana Crossan told RNZ the centre operated a six-week programme for people with depression, anxiety and other mental health distressors, which was funded from ACC referrals.
She said ACC had told the centre there were lower than expected referral numbers, and in the past nine months, ACC had not referred any clients to them.
Dame Diana said the centre had developed a programme for people in mental health crisis who show up at emergency departments needing help, and had talked with Health NZ about that, but had not received funding from the health agency.
"We developed a programme, thinking that's what they wanted, because we've all heard that EDs are overloaded, clogged, we've talked with the staff on the ground, we've talked with all the mental health staff on the ground, and they all want the organisation to keep going and to be funded.
"We can't wait, we need to be able to pay staff, we need to be able to operate," Dame Diana said.
Client says centre 'vital' to recovery
Ali Lewis told Morning Report she had been off work for nine months and the isolation of being at home was detrimental to her mental health and recovery.
" had a period where I had crisis team intervention and then I go off the books of being 'bad enough' to receive support from any of the mental health services out there.
"Engagement in Whakamātūtū has given me that connection back to the community and is a huge stepping stone for me to return to the workforce,"
Lewis said there were no alternatives, within reach, to assist people who were too sick for the GP but not sick enough to be in hospital.
"For people like me who work, I'm quite a high functioning person when I'm well - there is absolutely nothing. So you sit in isolation because you can't make that commitment, because you don't know how you're going to be on any given day. There is nothing," she said.
Lewis said she had been told her six week course would be completed but ongoing support might not be available.
"This isn't the first mental health episode that I've had. I will require further support in my future, I know that.
"When I received acceptance into sensitive claims from ACC I felt like they made a promise to support me through this process and now they're changing the stakes," Lewis said.
'Lower than expected referral numbers' - ACC
This week ACC's deputy chief executive system commissioning and performance, Thomas Ronan, said ACC entered a two-year contract with Whakamātūtū in 2023 to pilot a short, holistic programme for people with mental injury.
Ronan said ACC had turned down a request from the centre to extend the pilot.
"This decision was based on lower than expected referral numbers and because the pilot's original aims - reducing re-engagements and supporting clients to return to independence - were not fully achieved as intended."
Ronan said ACC was working with Whakamātūtū, and providing additional support to enable the service to continue to run as scheduled until 28 January 2026.
"We continue to support clients who access Whakamātūtū to complete the programme. We will support clients to transition or access other funded treatment and rehabilitation support and are confident existing ACC services will be able to meet their needs," Ronan said.
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey said funding decisions about providers were up to Health NZ. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii
Funding decisions up to Health NZ - Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey
Earlier in the week Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey said funding decisions about providers were up to Health NZ.
"I go out and meet a range of mental health, addiction and crisis response services, some of them have funding from Health New Zealand, some don't.
"There's a range of services out there that have philanthropic funding, private funding, it's up to them."
Doocey said people in the capital needed faster access to mental health services, and he's made that a clear expectation of Health NZ, including targets of a one week response time for primary mental health and addiction support, and three weeks for specialist support.
"As to what providers they fund, that is for Health New Zealand."
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