The Office of the Director of Mental Health and Addiction Services’ annual report presents information and statistics that serve as indicators of quality for our mental health services. Active monitoring of services is vital to ensuring New Zealanders are receiving quality mental health care.
This annual report reflects on the continual evolution of mental health and addiction care in New Zealand. In 2018, one key example was the introduction and use of the Substance Addiction (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act 2017 in February. In this report, data around indefinite treatment orders is being included for the first time.
Increasing numbers of people are accessing specialist mental health and addiction services. This increase is consistent with international trends, and has occurred in the context of population growth, improved non-governmental organisation reporting, growing social awareness and increasingly open discussion of mental health and addiction issues.
It is positive that more New Zealanders are seeking and receiving mental health care, but services are experiencing increasing pressure. We must continue to ensure that services are best placed to respond to the changing needs of the populations they serve.