The petition grew out of a Westport protest over cuts to health services there. It was initiated by Patient Voice Aotearoa chairman Malcolm Mulholland, who has gathered thousands of signatures nationwide including some representing local bodies, since September 28 last year.
The declaration was presented at the weekend conference "Be Kind to Your Mind" held at the Oamaru Salvation Army premises in Thames St, with guest speaker Julia Grace, as part of Mental Health Awareness Week.
Eating Disorders Carer Support New Zealand (EDCS) chairwoman Sarah Rowland gave a speech to conference members about the importance of supporting the campaign.
"It’s got about a week and a-half to go, so Waitaki, we have completely neglected this historical document which is a community voice, a health voice.
"This petition represents our community voices asking the government to recognise a health system in crisis plus to greatly increase funding to attract workforce and increase training."
The declaration was warmly received when first brought to the Waitaki district last October, but Miss Rowland said since then it had "stagnated".
"This is a massively nationally significant document and it deserves attention," she said.
Dr Mulholland said new Waitaki District Mayor Melanie Tavendale was "really supportive" of the campaign.
He said while he did not have an update on Waitaki numbers yet,the nationwide campaign was going "very well".
"At the last count we were around the 25,000 mark of signatures, but that’s only a fraction of around 100 scroll copies — so the number is definitely going to be bigger," he said.
Miss Rowland had signed the declaration on behalf of EDCS and garnered support from other local bodies.
"A lot of the issues that we’re seeing locally around health and mental health are guided by high-level policy and legislation, so initiatives like this are really important for people to know about at a local level," she said.
Dr Mulholland said it was a wide-ranging call for the health system to be fixed.
"Everybody’s got a story to tell when it comes to the health system and how bad they think the system is.
"It’s not a reflection on nurses and the doctors as individuals, but the system as a whole and my memory of Waitaki residents was it was no different for them as it was anywhere else."
Over 100 copies of the Buller Declaration will be presented to Parliament on November 18.
The petition is available at The Salvation Army, 255 Thames St in Oamaru until October 22 or vote online at https://www.patientvoice.nz/petition
