Media Release

29 September 2009

Mental Health Annual Report 2008 released

The Mental Health Annual report 2008 was released today by the Ministry of Health.

The report provides a public record of the work of the Office of the Director of Mental Health and the Office’s legally assigned officers. It is of particular relevance to those involved in mental health care, including mental health service users and their families, sector staff and advocacy groups.

Director of Mental Health, David Chaplow, says the report aims to annually highlight a full range of indicators of treatment and outcomes for mental illness. As in previous years, information covering rates of compulsion, electroconvulsive therapy, seclusion, and suicide are included.

Dr Chaplow said it was important to note that the 2008 report did not attempt to interpret data variations between District Health Boards.

“Variation in data is likely to be influenced by a number of factors including practice, size, location, population and configuration, " he said.

Additional information about individual District Health Board’s figures is available from the Boards, Dr Chaplow said.

Reportable events, which were included in the 2007 annual report, are now published separately by the Ministry’s Quality Improvement Committee.

The full report is available on the Ministry of Health website www.moh.govt.nz

For queries, please contact Helen Corrigan, Senior Advisor, Media Communications. DDI: (04) 496 2265