The new Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand (HNZ) Central Lakes mental health crisis support service, provided by Central Lakes Family Services (CLFS), fully launched this week.
While the service has been operational since mid-January, it has been carefully scaled up in phases to ensure the best outcomes for clients, providers and referrers.
The new service sits alongside the current 24/7 regional crisis response service and provides more local options to support people in mental distress, including those who may have otherwise needed to travel out of the area to access acute inpatient mental health services.
For those needing crisis support, the service can be accessed in one of two ways — through a referral from HNZ Southern’s specialist mental health and addiction staff, who are available on a 24/7 basis or a referral from their GP.
The referrers will work closely with CLFS, which has a team of registered health professionals and support workers to provide home-based support.
CLFS general manager Tina Mongston said her team’s goal was to support people through an immediate crisis, help them get back on their feet and link them to the right services for ongoing support.
"People don’t need to walk this path alone; we’ll be there to hold their hand. We also understand how concerning it can be for whānau when someone they care about is very distressed."
