$20m for eMental health in Wellbeing Budget

eHealthNews.nz: Digital Patient

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Thursday, 6 June 2019

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Picture: Anil Thapliyal, eMental health lead at AUT’s Centre for eHealth

eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth

The government’s new Wellbeing Budget includes extra funding of $20.8 million over four years for digital and telehealth services specifically tailored to meet mental health needs.

Budget documents say that will mean an extra 58,000 responses per year when people seek support by texting or calling 1737 and other existing telehealth services.

Homecare Medical provides the 1737 number and other telehealth services, but referred comment on the Budget announcement to the Health Minister David Clark’s office.

A spokesperson for the Minister told eHealthNews.nz that the exact details of how the new funding will be distributed are still being worked through.

Speaking about the government’s injection of $455 million over four years into mental health services, Clark said it needs to be made easier for people to get help early, before small issues become major problems.

“We want people to know there is no wrong door to use when they need help,” he said.

Anil Thapliyal, eMental health lead at AUT’s Centre for eHealth, says the mental health sector is euphoric at having received such an impressive budget allocation for wellbeing.

However, while a lot of traditional mental health services will receive a significant boost, the appetite for embracing digital innovations as an integral part of care at a system level remains an unknown quantity.

Thapliyal says that despite this additional $20.8 million over four years for mental health digital and telehealth services, New Zealand continues to lag behind internationally in its understanding of and long-term investment in the eMental health domain.

“Not all New Zealanders live in the major towns and cities,” he says.

“Here is an opportunity for us to look at technology-enabled initiatives to reduce inequity and increase access to care regardless of a person’s socioeconomic status or where they reside.”

Thapliyal adds that while more money is good, the quality of services depends on how well they are implemented and New Zealand does not have robust commissioning experience of implementing health solutions at this scale.

“If we do not project manage effective delivery of the opportunities provided by the current Budget appropriations then it will be such a great opportunity missed,” he says.

“Our traditional mental health sector is strewn with silos across the care continuum, from public health-led promotion and prevention initiatives, primary care, secondary care and tertiary care.

“We have finally been entrusted with a level of funding that can truly reshape the continuum of care. It’s incumbent on us as sector leaders to work across silos and organisational agendas, at a pace like never before, to drive real mental health system change for New Zealanders.”