The plan says Lifeline, a health service phoneline, would only be funded until 2027, with ongoing funding to be “considered” as part of the wider procurement of a national telehealth service.
The Government also plans to progressively increase the capacity of mental health and addiction telehealth lines by at least 36,000 additional contacts per year from June 2030, including 16,000 additional calls by June 2028, to provide increased availability of mental health and addiction telehealth support.
The strategy commits to producing a plan to eliminate seclusion by the end of next year.
Doocey said the long-term plan would “integrate services from mental health, housing and employment” because “having a stable home and meaningful work can make a real difference to someone’s recovery”.
The Government also wants to develop an AI tool for publicly funded mental health and addiction telehealth lines to help produce consistent triaging and referrals.
Doocey produced another document that set out how he planned to achieve these goals.
That document says most of the funding to achieve the plan comes from the ring-fenced funding for mental health and addiction, which is just under $3 billion in the current year.
Funding for mental health remains a challenge. Overall funding ring-fenced for health and addiction grew 30% in the past four years from $2.02b in 2022/23 to $2.98b in 2026/27.
But the document says while the gradual lift in funding was positive, “much of this increase has focused on maintaining service levels, with increasing cost pressures”.
The plan warns much of the way care is delivered in New Zealand is “outdated” and has “not shifted significantly in the past 25 years”.
“Services are still largely delivered in traditional health settings, with siloed services, clinical primacy, triaging based on acuity of needs, limited availability outside of standard office hours, and slow integration of new technology.
“This has resulted in a system that is not adequately meeting the needs of all New Zealanders, and that is not keeping pace with the changing ways people want to interact with and receive support,” the report says.