- Hon Matt Doocey
New data released today shows strong improvement across all three mental health and addiction access targets compared with the same quarter last year, Minister for Mental Health Matt Doocey says.
"With the first year-on-year comparison now available for quarter one, it's promising to see more New Zealanders having shorter stays in emergency departments and receiving faster access to both primary and specialist mental health and addiction support," Mr Doocey says.
"The latest results compared to Q1 2024/25 show improvements across all three targets:
- Faster access to primary mental health and addiction support: 83.4% of people accessed primary support within one week, up from 80.8%.
- Faster access to specialist mental health and addiction services: 82.2% of people accessed specialist services within three weeks, up from 80.4%.
- Shorter ED stays for mental health and addiction: 66.8% of people in distress were seen and admitted or discharged within six hours, up from 63.5%.
"While the shorter stays in ED target remains our greatest challenge, eight out of twenty districts met the 77% milestone, including all South Island districts.
"Progress is not only being seen nationally, but also across Māori, Pacific, and Asian communities. For example, our Asian communities improved from 53.8% to 59% for shorter stays in ED, Māori increased from 82.5% to 83.6% for specialist access, and Pacific peoples rose from 81.6% to 87.4% for primary support.
"We are fixing the basics and building the future, which is why I am very clear about the direction going forward. We want to see an end to the postcode lottery. It's not job done when we reach the national target, real progress happens when we work directly with the 20 health districts to lift under-performing regions.
"Today's results are a credit to the hardworking frontline mental health and addiction workers who make a difference in people's lives every day.
"At the end of the day, no matter where you live in New Zealand, you should be able to access support where and when you need it, and that's exactly what we're focused on delivering."
Notes to editor:
- The latest mental health and addiction target factsheets for Q1 2025/26 can be found here.
- Workforce data for Q1 only reflects semester one results. Results including the second semester will be available in Q2 2025/26
- The comparisons are from Q1 2024/25 (1 July - 30 September) to the data released today, which is Q1 2025/26.
