'Vicious cycle' of underfunding worsening New Zealanders' mental health - psychiatrists

Most of New Zealand's psychiatrists say the mental health system is not fit for purpose, and getting worse.

The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) is urging all political parties to commit to urgent, concrete action.

RANZCP asked its roughly 700 members to rate the system, and 540 responded.

Ninety-four percent believed current resourcing was insufficient, and only 3 percent considered future planning was heading in the right direction.

Nearly two-thirds reported staffing levels had dropped, in some cases by a lot.

RANZCP Tu Te Akaaka Roa New Zealand national committee chair Dr Hiran Thabrew said the survey results from those on the front line were alarming, and showed a system in crisis.

"This isn't coming from a minority of our workforce, it's coming from the majority of psychiatrists around the country," he said.

"Over the last decade, moderate-to-severe mental illness has risen by nearly 40 percent, affecting around 5 percent of the population. Demand [for help] is growing, and demand will continue to grow. But the system isn't keeping up."

Thabrew said mental health patients were suffering due to the shortage of psychiatrists.

"When you don't have enough psychiatrists, it takes longer to get people help early enough or for as long as they need, and so people get more unwell and then are more likely to present a crisis.

"It's a self-perpetuating or vicious cycle, where with inadequate resourcing, inadequate workforce, you're getting people delivering care that is substandard. The main issue for psychiatrists in New Zealand who've responded to our survey is a sense of moral injury that they feel coming into the job to try and help people, but not being able to, and delivering substandard care."

RANZCP said all political parties needed to commit to urgently fixing the workforce shortage and provide more funding.

Actions it wanted included a $60 million investment over six years to support 60 new psychiatry trainees through the system and into practice, and a $27m investment over three years for a survey to provide a comprehensive understanding of the mental health and wellbeing of New Zealanders.