Ballooning wait times for children and adolescents trying to access mental health services should be of serious concern to us all, National’s Mental Health spokesperson Matt Doocey says.

“Wait times have increased in 17 of the 18 DHBs that provided data since Labour’s election in 2017 with some as much as 50 per cent longer in 2021 and that is simply not good enough.

“The statistics show, that under the term of the last National Government, wait times for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services were stabilising if not declining. In part, this is due to the ability of the National Party to be accountable by monitoring key statistics and publishing data for the public.”

National MPs are hearing regularly from constituents about their struggles to access vital mental health services for themselves or their children. This is an issue Kiwis really care about, Mr Doocey says.

“Despite promises from Labour of huge investment towards resolving the mental health crisis in New Zealand, it is evident that accessibility of services is going backwards. What we’re learning from the mental health community and services is that money is not flowing through to frontline services.”

Mr Doocey is calling on Minister of Health Andrew Little to take responsibility for the poor outcomes and provide insight into how the Labour Government is going to address the worsening situation.

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