Stuff asked the following question
Police, firefighters, ambulance medics, doctors and nurses encounter horrific situations repeatedly through their working lives. They endure this to help us all.
Yet when they go to ACC for help, suffering from the mental health toll of this work, they are told they need to name a “single event” that caused their stress and if ACC don’t believe that one event is severe enough to cause post-traumatic stress disorder, they get no help.
Clearly this is wrong. Why doesn’t Parliament change the law to support our everyday heroes?
Stuart Smith
National MP Kaikoura
Below is Stuart Smith’s response.
The work that our frontline providers do to keep us safe is extraordinary. The men and women who contribute to our police force, fire and emergency response and first aid response often put their own livelihoods and families on hold to help those in need.
Throughout their work, frontline workers experience situations that many of us cannot begin to imagine and the mental toll that takes on our first responders should not go overlooked. These are the people who keep us safe and respond to us when we need them the most, yet they fail to receive support when they need it.
Frankly, this is another failure from this Government.
Back in 2019, Andrew Little announced $1.9 billion for mental health, with the objective to improve mental health outcomes for New Zealanders. We are now in the third quarter of 2022 and there have been no material changes in mental health outcomes for New Zealanders.
In March, the independent Mental Health and Well-being Commission released their findings and concluded that little change has been made to front-line mental health services or to our response times for those dealing with mental health. That shows an abject failure by this Government, who are more interested in throwing big money at a problem without thinking about the outcomes.
Our frontline workers have clearly seen very little or perhaps none of the $1.9 billion that was promised to alleviate the mental health crisis in this country, because they are screaming out for help from ACC, who do not have the capability to help them.
Where they should get help from is the $1.9 billion fund that was allocated by this Government to mental health.
Departments filled with bureaucrats from Wellington also need to take some of the blame. Fire and Emergency New Zealand spent $10 million on a rebranding project instead of focusing on the mental health needs of firefighters who are called on to help in some horrendous situations such as serious fires and traffic accidents. The prioritisation of spending is woeful and must be addressed quickly.
National has committed to dedicating a minister specifically for mental health, because we realise the crisis we are in. When frontline workers, students and many more cannot get the help they need, we are not serving our most vulnerable. The next National Government will make mental health a priority.