New unit to help fill gaps in Taranaki mental health and addictions rehabilitation services opens
Photo:
ROBIN MARTIN / RNZ
A new facility designed to improve outcomes for mental health and addiction patients in Taranaki has opened in New Plymouth.
Minister for Mental Health Matt Doocey officially opened Te Puna Wai Kātea on the Taranaki Base Hospital campus on Thursday.
He said the facility - whose name meant pool of cool clear water and symbolised the journey towards clarity for its users - would help mental health and addiction patients transition back into the community.
"In-patient facilities can't be the end goal. It's actually about how we support people to get well and then support them back into their communities.
"This facility is an example of step-down care and what that means is that when you've been an in-patient and become well and you're ready to be discharged you can come to a facility like this and it allows you to actually start thinking about rehabilitation and connecting back into your community."
Senior responsible officer for the Project Maunga redevelopment of Taranaki Base Hospital, Rosemary Clements, shows Minister for Mental Health Matt Doocey and New Plymouth MP David McLeod around Te Puna Wai Kātea.
Photo:
ROBIN MARTIN / RNZ
Te Puna Wai Kātea included four short- to medium-term stay rooms, an activities room, family space, kitchen, dining, and living areas.
It cost $6 million and was one of 16 similar facilities being delivered as part of Health New Zealand's Mental Health Infrastructure Programme.
Doocey said the fact there were only four overnight rooms reflected how expensive it was to build good facilities.
"For me it's not about putting a dollar cost on it. I think many people will remember the state of our mental health facilities in previous generations.
"They were places you would look at and think 'how does anyone get well in a place that looks like that?' So quite rightly we want people to feel valued so that's way we invest in places like this.
Doocey said the service would integrate with other providers.
"The team here will work closely with clinical services, whānau, and government agencies like MSD, Kāinga Ora, and Pathways to develop the most suitable tailored transition plans for each individual,"
Interim manager for mental health and addiction services at HNZ Taranaki, Hayley Scott, said Te Puna Wai Kātea would help fill a gap in patient care in the province.
Interim service manager for mental health and addictions, Hayley Scott, at the opening of Te Puna Wai Kātea.
Photo:
ROBIN MARTIN / RNZ
"Taranaki has lacked a rehab service for mental health and addictions for some time. Initially this new facility will provide the space for group work with a rehabilitation focus and once operation funds are release we want to use Te Puna Wai Kātea to accommodate four whai ora (patients) for intensive live-in rehabilitation."
Scott said the new facility would take pressure off Taranaki Base Hospital's 23-bed in-patient mental health facility by providing somewhere for them to transition through.
"It's about providing that intensive rehabilitation for our whai ora who have perhaps been a patient in our acute in-patient unit that are at the stage for some intensive rehab, so we're looking at a three to six month programme to help them get back into the community."
Scott was grateful to have the new four-bed facility.
"Four beds is better than what we have, so it's a real gift for us. We look at it as a positive move in the right direction, but obviously we'd like more resources like everyone, but it is a real bonus for us at the moment."
Scott said the new facility would be a boon for those patients ready for rehabilitative treatment.
"Currently they might stay in the in-patient unit a little bit longer than necessary or adding to our options a lot of non-governmental organisations do home care and we help people in their own whare, but this will be more intensive.
"Te Puna Wai Kātea will provide hope to whai ora that there is a step-down pathway for those that need it. It's going to help. There'll be a waiting list to get in, put it that way."
The unit would have three staff during the day and two overnight. They would have a range of skills from occupational health workers, nurses and mental health rehabilitation assistants and a team leader.
Te Puna Wai Kātea opens to day patients on 1 July.
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