Mental Health Crisis Services, Workforce, and Suicidology (2015–2025)
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From: SPENCER JONES
To: Te Whatu Ora – Health New Zealand
Cc: Manatū Hauora | Ministry of Health; Suicide Prevention Office; Te Hiringa Mahara – Mental Health & Wellbeing Commission
Tēnā koutou,
Under the Official Information Act 1982, I request aggregated national-level information relating to mental health crisis services, acute psychiatric care, and suicide-related data spanning 1 January 2015 to the most recent data available in 2025.
No personally identifiable information is sought.
1. Mental health & addiction workforce (2015–2025)
For each year:
1.1 Workforce totals (headcount, employed FTE, funded FTE, vacant FTE)
For:
Psychiatrists
Child & adolescent psychiatrists
Psychiatric registrars
Psychologists
Mental health nurses
Alcohol & drug clinicians
Social workers in mental health
Community Support Workers
Crisis Team (CATT/CAHT) clinicians
Peer support workforce
1.2 Workforce shortages
Any national estimates or modelling of numerical FTE shortfall for each profession, including forecasts to 2030 if available.
2. Crisis response performance and delays (2018–2025)
For each year:
2.1 Crisis line & CATT response times
Median, average, and 90th percentile response times for:
Crisis phone triage
CATT in-person response
Number of crisis calls per year
Number of unresponded or abandoned crisis calls
Number of crises diverted to Police due to workforce shortages
2.2 Acute presentations
Number of mental health emergency presentations to ED
Number of ED presentations waiting >6 hours
Number requiring overnight ED stays due to lack of beds
Number awaiting psychiatric review >8 hours
3. Inpatient & acute bed capacity (2015–2025)
3.1 Acute mental health units
For each year:
Number of acute mental health beds per region
Funded FTE vs actual staffing
Average occupancy
Number of days occupancy >95%
Number of patients held in ED due to lack of psychiatric beds
3.2 Seclusion & restraint
Annual counts of seclusion episodes
Annual counts of restraint episodes
Any internal reporting linking increased seclusion to staffing shortages
4. Follow-up after suicide attempt or crisis (2018–2025)
Please provide:
% of people seen within 48 hours after a suicide attempt
% seen within 7 days
Number not followed up within 7 days
Any internal risk reports on failure to follow up
Any analysis of barriers to timely community follow-up (workforce, risk, access)
If the data is not collected nationally, please confirm.
5. Suicidology — aggregated data only (2015–2025)
For each year:
5.1 Suicide deaths
Total suicide deaths (annual)
Age-banded totals (0–14, 15–24, 25–44, 45–64, 65+)
Regional breakdown
Ethnicity breakdown (Māori, Pacific, European/Other, Asian)
5.2 Self-harm & suicide attempts
Number of ED presentations for self-harm
Number of hospitalisations for intentional self-harm
Number of repeat self-harm presentations
Number of repeat self-harm hospitalisations
5.3 Contact with services before suicide (aggregated only)
Number and % of suicide deaths where the person had contact with:
Mental health services in previous 7 days
Mental health services in previous 30 days
ED in previous 30 days
Primary care in previous 30 days
If no such analysis exists, please confirm.
6. Service strain & internal risk assessments (2018–2025)
Please provide any internal reports or dashboards relating to:
Threats to patient safety from understaffed crisis teams
ED overcrowding impacting psychiatric patients
Shortages of psychiatrists or psychologists
Delayed FSAs (First Specialist Appointments) for acute mental health
Closure or reduction of mental health units
Te Whatu Ora internal “red status” or “unsafe staffing” alerts
Any risk assessments linking workforce shortages to harm, suicide risk, or delayed care
If risk assessments do not exist, please confirm.
7. Police involvement due to lack of mental health capacity
For each year 2018–2025:
Number of mental health crisis events handled primarily by Police
Number of mental health crises where Police transported patients due to lack of clinical availability
Number of Section 109 Mental Health Act detentions
Any internal analysis on Police substitution for clinical crisis care
8. Waiting times for mental health FSAs (2018–2025)
For each year:
Median wait time to first specialist assessment
% of urgent referrals seen within target time
% waiting >8 weeks, >12 weeks, >6 months
Any regional variation reports
9. Youth & adolescent mental health (2015–2025)
For each year:
FTE of child & adolescent psychiatrists
FTE of psychologists working with 0–17
Number of youth acute presentations
Number of youth self-harm hospitalisations
Wait times for CAMHS FSAs (median + 90th percentile)
Any reports identifying rising acuity or risk levels
10. Ministerial briefings (2020–2025)
Please provide:
A list of all briefings, memos, and reports relating to:
Crisis services
Suicide trends
Workforce degradation
ED mental health pressures
Youth suicide risk
And the first five documents in each category.
If releasing full reports triggers s18(f), the list alone is sufficient.
11. Format
Please provide all datasets in Excel or CSV.
Documents in PDF are acceptable.
If any information is held by another agency, please transfer under s14 OIA.
Kind regards,
Spencer Jones
(via FYI.org.nz)
From: OIA Requests
Kia ora Spencer
Thank you for your request under the Official Information Act 1982 (the
Act), received by the Ministry of Health on 20 November 2025. You
requested:
1. Mental health & addiction workforce (2015–2025)
For each year:
1.1 Workforce totals (headcount, employed FTE, funded FTE, vacant FTE)
For:
Psychiatrists
Child & adolescent psychiatrists
Psychiatric registrars
Psychologists
Mental health nurses
Alcohol & drug clinicians
Social workers in mental health
Community Support Workers
Crisis Team (CATT/CAHT) clinicians
Peer support workforce
1.2 Workforce shortages
Any national estimates or modelling of numerical FTE shortfall for each
profession, including forecasts to 2030 if available.
2. Crisis response performance and delays (2018–2025)
For each year:
2.1 Crisis line & CATT response times
Median, average, and 90th percentile response times for:
Crisis phone triage
CATT in-person response
Number of crisis calls per year
Number of unresponded or abandoned crisis calls
Number of crises diverted to Police due to workforce shortages
2.2 Acute presentations
Number of mental health emergency presentations to ED
Number of ED presentations waiting >6 hours
Number requiring overnight ED stays due to lack of beds
Number awaiting psychiatric review >8 hours
3. Inpatient & acute bed capacity (2015–2025)
3.1 Acute mental health units
For each year:
Number of acute mental health beds per region
Funded FTE vs actual staffing
Average occupancy
Number of days occupancy >95%
Number of patients held in ED due to lack of psychiatric beds
3.2 Seclusion & restraint
Annual counts of seclusion episodes
Annual counts of restraint episodes
Any internal reporting linking increased seclusion to staffing shortages
4. Follow-up after suicide attempt or crisis (2018–2025)
Please provide:
% of people seen within 48 hours after a suicide attempt
% seen within 7 days
Number not followed up within 7 days
Any internal risk reports on failure to follow up
Any analysis of barriers to timely community follow-up (workforce, risk,
access)
If the data is not collected nationally, please confirm.
5. Suicidology — aggregated data only (2015–2025)
For each year:
5.1 Suicide deaths
Total suicide deaths (annual)
Age-banded totals (0–14, 15–24, 25–44, 45–64, 65+)
Regional breakdown
Ethnicity breakdown (Mâori, Pacific, European/Other, Asian)
5.2 Self-harm & suicide attempts
Number of ED presentations for self-harm
Number of hospitalisations for intentional self-harm
Number of repeat self-harm presentations
Number of repeat self-harm hospitalisations
5.3 Contact with services before suicide (aggregated only)
Number and % of suicide deaths where the person had contact with:
Mental health services in previous 7 days
Mental health services in previous 30 days
ED in previous 30 days
Primary care in previous 30 days
If no such analysis exists, please confirm.
6. Service strain & internal risk assessments (2018–2025)
Please provide any internal reports or dashboards relating to:
Threats to patient safety from understaffed crisis teams
ED overcrowding impacting psychiatric patients
Shortages of psychiatrists or psychologists
Delayed FSAs (First Specialist Appointments) for acute mental health
Closure or reduction of mental health units
Te Whatu Ora internal “red status” or “unsafe staffing” alerts
Any risk assessments linking workforce shortages to harm, suicide risk, or
delayed care
If risk assessments do not exist, please confirm.
7. Police involvement due to lack of mental health capacity
For each year 2018–2025:
Number of mental health crisis events handled primarily by Police
Number of mental health crises where Police transported patients due to
lack of clinical availability
Number of Section 109 Mental Health Act detentions
Any internal analysis on Police substitution for clinical crisis care
8. Waiting times for mental health FSAs (2018–2025)
For each year:
Median wait time to first specialist assessment
% of urgent referrals seen within target time
% waiting >8 weeks, >12 weeks, >6 months
Any regional variation reports
9. Youth & adolescent mental health (2015–2025)
For each year:
FTE of child & adolescent psychiatrists
FTE of psychologists working with 0–17
Number of youth acute presentations
Number of youth self-harm hospitalisations
Wait times for CAMHS FSAs (median + 90th percentile)
Any reports identifying rising acuity or risk levels
10. Ministerial briefings (2020–2025)
Please provide:
A list of all briefings, memos, and reports relating to:
Crisis services
Suicide trends
Workforce degradation
ED mental health pressures
Youth suicide risk
And the first five documents in each category.
If releasing full reports triggers s18(f), the list alone is sufficient.
11. Format
Please provide all datasets in Excel or CSV.
Documents in PDF are acceptable.
If any information is held by another agency, please transfer under s14
OIA.
The reference number for your request is H2025075905. As required under
the Act, the Ministry will endeavour to respond to your request no later
than 20 working days after the day your request was
received: [1]http://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/
If you have any queries related to this request, please do not hesitate to
get in touch ([2][email address]).
Ngâ mihi
OIA Services Team
Ministry of Health | Manatû Hauora
M[3]inistry of Health information releases
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Why this Fifth-Stage OIA Matters
Mental health in New Zealand has deteriorated visibly over the past decade. People across the country report:
difficulty accessing crisis support
long waits for psychiatric care
being left in ED for 12–24 hours with no mental health clinician
growing reliance on Police instead of clinical staff
under-staffed acute units
rationing of psychology and psychiatric services
rising youth distress and self-harm
families feeling abandoned after suicide attempts
Official reporting on mental health performance is inconsistent, limited, and often delayed. Many critical indicators — such as crisis response times, follow-up after suicide attempts, contact with services before suicide, and inpatient staffing levels — are either buried in internal dashboards or never made public at all.
This OIA seeks factual, aggregated, numerical data to answer the real questions communities keep asking:
Are crisis teams responding fast enough to prevent harm?
Are people being seen after suicide attempts?
Are mental health units dangerously understaffed?
Is Police being used as a substitute for clinical care?
Are suicides rising in certain regions or age groups?
Are youth services meeting demand — or collapsing under it?
The OIA forms the fifth and final part of a national transparency series examining:
Workforce exits & shortages
Cancer incidence & late diagnosis
Diagnostic bottlenecks (radiology, pathology, oncology)
Cardiology, stroke & acute medical services
Mental health crisis services & suicidology
Together, these OIAs will provide one of the most comprehensive, publicly accessible datasets on the true condition of New Zealand’s health system from 2015–2025.
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