The Ministry of Health's Director of Mental Health, Dr John Crawshaw, publicly released the Section 99 Inspection into Canterbury - Waitaha Adult Inpatient and Associated Mental Health Services in August 2025.
The report made 18 recommendations across governance, care, and resourcing functions to improve services, supported by a 12-month monitoring programme and quarterly visits by the Director of Mental Health to understand and assess progress.
The third monitoring visit was completed in May 2026. Following the visit, Dr Crawshaw has said, "Significant progress has been made across the service since the appointment of a new Programme Director in May, including in the forensic service. It is clear that the service continues to face a number of structural and workforce challenges and there is work underway to address these."
Dr Crawshaw also noted further progress towards improvements in the areas of governance, recruitment processes, and cultural development.
The Ministry of Health is continuing to work with Health New Zealand to support Canterbury with progressing improvements across all areas. A further visit to assess the services and progress against the recommendations is scheduled to take place in August 2026.
