A strong nurse response is needed to the proposed second Blueprint for mental health services as it impacts on nursing across the board, say nursing leaders.
Drawing on the resources of the whole health sector and more early intervention are amongst the pushes in the Blueprint II document that is currently out for consultation. It also talks about funding constraints and “modifying” the ring-fence around funding for specialist mental health and addiction services.
The aim of the Mental Health Commission paper is to set the direction for mental health services for the next decade and nursing leaders are keen for nurses to share their views.
Daryle Deering, president of the College of Mental Health Nurses, says Blueprint II’s expectations for greater efficiency and integration has a number of implications for nursing including a call for all registered nurses to work to the top of their scope.
She says the consultation document needs to be read in tandem with the recently released Health Workforce New Zealand mental health workforce review so nurses become familiar with the proposed new model of care and its workforce implications. (see other Newsfeed stories.)
Lois Boyd, chair of the Mental Health directors of nursing group, said of particular interest to all nurses was Blueprint II’s call for the mental health service to work in greater collaboration with the general health and social sector.
“While I think that it is quite important that mental health nurses look at and comment on this document I’d also be encouraging nurses in more general health and social settings to also make comments from their perspectives.”
Boyd said if Blueprint II followed in the steps of the first Blueprint it “certainly would” make an impact, as the first had been the key guiding document for the mental health sector for the past decade.
Deering agreed with Blueprint II’s view that it was important to “drastically scale-up screening, health education and early intervention strategies”. But she said nursing submissions should not overlook that strong advocacy was also required to keep a ring-fence around mental health and addiction treatment to ensure it meets the needs of consumers and their families.
She said in times when resources are tight, stigma can result in vulnerable groups struggling to have a strong voice when funding decisions are made.
Advocacy was also needed to ensure that Blueprint II strategies were in line with Maori and Pacific strategies, recognised issues around New Zealand’s heavy drinking culture and acknowledged social factors like unemployment, housing and poverty.
Boyd said some of the key aspects of the new Blueprint she noted were recognising the strengths of mental health consumers and those around them, and building services that support resilience and recovery. Also a change in targets from the original blueprint with the new direction focused on integrated approaches, early recognition and early intervention. “That’s quite a encouraging addition to this version.” She also noted the new target of providing services closer to people’s homes and developing a responsive “no wait” service.
She said the document’s proposals, including modifying the ring-fence were still to be discussed by her fellow directors when they met later this month.
“But I imagine for some services that (changes to the ring-fence) will be quite a key part of the consultation,” said Boyd and she added it would be “very important” that people did comment on any concerns they in that area.
The consultation is on a tight timeframe with submissions due with the Mental Health Commission by March 9. The document can be found at www.mhc.govt.nz
