Karen Orsborn: Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission CEO on the first five years of the Access and Choice Programme

A $664 million mental health programme seems to have challenges to address to help it reach its targets. 

The Access and Choice Programme received the five-year funding in Labour's 2019 'Wellbeing' Budget.  

It's aiming to support 325 thousand people per year, but during 2023-24 saw just over 207 thousand.  

Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission chief executive Karen Orsborn told Mike Hosking awareness is an issue. 

She says people don't always know where to go, and it's also about how GPs make it easier for patients to seek the support. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
So the ghost of labor past has come back this
morning as we remember that famed splash of cash for
mental health and the budget of twenty nineteen one point
nine billion, of which six hundred and sixty four million
was given for what was called Access and Choice Access
and Choice Program to improve mild to moderate mental health care. Apparently,
as we hit the five year mark, we can see
the target of supporting three hundred and twenty five thousand
of us is well short. They are helping two hundred

(00:21):
and seven thousand, or thirty six percent of what they thought. Anyway,
the Mental Health and Well Being Commissioned CEO Karen Osborne's
with us Karen, morning to.

Speaker 2 (00:28):
You, Good morning Mike.

Speaker 1 (00:30):
In very simple terms, do you think this is working?
Giving you so short?

Speaker 2 (00:34):
Look, we do think the program is working. Yes, it
is short of the three hundred and twenty hundred thousand
people per annum, But what we have seen is the
reach of this program across primary care and community services
is at sixty eight percent, which is very close to
the seventy percent that was anticipated. So the reach is

(00:55):
there in terms of the services being available. What really
now needs to happen is real focus on increasing the
numbers of people who are using those services.

Speaker 1 (01:05):
Why aren't they using it?

Speaker 2 (01:07):
Well, there's a range of factors. I mean, some of
them have taken time to come on stream. There is
also what we hear that people don't know always know
where to go to get the help. So there is
an issue of awareness, but it's also about what's happening
on the ground in some of those practices to make
sure that it's easy for people to access these services.

Speaker 1 (01:27):
And sound very well coordinated or organized after five years?
Am I being unfair?

Speaker 2 (01:33):
Look? I think these are services that are in primary cares,
are GP practices, rural practices, urban practices, and community services
such as new use services, Pacific Services, co Paper Maori.
So it's very widespread and it's what we have seen
is really good progress, but just that really focused attention

(01:54):
that needs to happen in this next stage.

Speaker 1 (01:56):
But all over here on the media is how you
can't get access to mental healthcare. Why doesn't somebody join
some dots and say, well, there's plenty of money, plenty
of service, And if you're talking about the primary care
of the doctor, why doesn't every GP in the country
know here is the service and putting you in the right.

Speaker 2 (02:09):
Direction and that's where we really need to see this focus.
So this review was.

Speaker 1 (02:15):
It's it's five years. Why haven't we got the focus?
Why isn't it up and running in you know, tickety boo?
Why are we spending hundreds of millions of dollars in
something that after five years doesn't work?

Speaker 2 (02:25):
It does work, and we've heard some really really positive
feedback from the people who use their services, and so
it is working for many people. It's just not getting
to the number of people that it really needs to.
And some of this is the way this service was designed,
so having people in individual practices and having people being
able to access on the day, and that there's not

(02:47):
a steady flow of people always needing those services. So
what we also need to use is some of the
digital virtual tools to make sure that people are being
fully utilized across the country. So there are some strengths
in the all, but there's also some areas that need
to improve, and it's really what we're shining.

Speaker 1 (03:03):
Then it sounds like complete and utter waste to me.

Speaker 2 (03:07):
No, that's not.

Speaker 1 (03:08):
I mean, you know, for the people who are using it, fantastic,
that's good. So congratulations, But at only thirty six percent.
That's sixty four percent of people who are not being
reached allegedly, and maybe you're suggesting they don't need to
be reached because maybe they don't actually have a problem.
So we're spending money on a problem that doesn't exist
as widely as we think it does.

Speaker 2 (03:26):
Oh look the numbers around the wrong Way is actually
reaching sixty four percent of the people, so it's thirty
six that's remaining. So it's reaching two thirds of the
number of people that was anticipated. My apologies. Yeah, yeah,
so the worst and delays through COVID. So this program
started in twenty twenty and so those early years did

(03:49):
take a bit longer to get up and running. Got
it also was employed or the system has employed an
extra thirteen hundred stars, so this program across the country
and that's that's a big uptack in terms of that resource.
So is what we're wanting to see is that resource
being used to the most benefit for the people in

(04:10):
the community. So it's come a long way, but it's
definitely got some more work to be done, and we
particularly also want to see more focus on our young people.
So this program is reaching young people, and we know
young people are having a delays to access specialist mental
health and addiction services. So this is providing much needed
support to those young people.

Speaker 1 (04:30):
Okay, I must get you back on again care because
I've got of a bunch of other questions that i
don't have time for now. But that's I appreciate your time,
Karen Olsborn, who's the Mental Health and well Being Commissioned.

Speaker 2 (04:38):
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