Design process for new mental health unit under way soon
From local democracy reporter Brendon McMahon:
Work is progressing for a new mental health unit in Greymouth.
Canterbury and West Coast District Health Boards infrastructure executive director Rob Ojala, told the West Coast board on Friday that the planning had reached the point where "we're on the market to get the design team."
He shared that following a query from iwi representative Francois Tumahai whether the planning would include a consumer representative.
Ojala said user group representatives would be part of the design structure for the new unit, "so we get a broad lens on the reality for the model going forward".
However, a user representative was probably not going to be in the governance structure for it, although iwi would be represented.
DHB general manager Philip Wheble noted the auditors from the Office of the Ombudsman had requested an update on 16 recommendations.
There was a continued focus on recruitment across the mental health service.
Key positions appointed in the past few weeks included the clinical nurse manager for the inpatient unit, a UK registered nurse as a case manager for Northern Community Mental Health (Buller), and a clinical psychologist who was not due to start until January.
"This is a key role to fill having been empty since 2016," Wheble said.
Occupational therapy vacancies continued to cause challenges for service delivery and specialist input in the mental health area.
He also reported a focus on equity for Māori patients, with a Māori casual mental health assistant employed, while the manager hours for the Māori mental health team had also been increased from half to full-time.
Services had not been significantly impacted by Covid apart from the Alcohol and Other Drugs service (AOD), which had a higher proportion of positive cases with increased service delivery challenges, "all of which have been managed well".
*Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
Poll: Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?
Just a bit of a fun poll to get you thinking.
If you had to live out your Christmas days, would you prefer it was a summer Christmas or a winter Christmas?
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61.7% Summer
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36.7% Winter
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1.6% Other - I'll share below
⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️
It's a message we share time and time again, and this year, we're calling on you to help us spread that message further.
Did you know that calls to SPCA about dogs left inside hot cars made up a whopping 11% of all welfare calls last summer? This is a completely preventable issue, and one which is causing hundreds of dogs (often loved pets) to suffer.
Here are some quick facts to share with the dog owners in your life:
👉 The temperature inside a car can heat to over 50°C in less than 15 minutes.
👉 Parking in the shade and cracking windows does little to help on a warm day. Dogs rely on panting to keep cool, which they can't do in a hot car.
👉 This puts dogs at a high risk of heatstroke - a serious condition for dogs, with a mortality rate between 39%-50%.
👉 It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act to leave a dog in a hot vehicle if they are showing signs of heat stress. You can be fined, and prosecuted.
SPCA has created downloadable resources to help you spread the message even further. Posters, a flyer, and a social media tile can be downloaded from our website here: www.spca.nz...
We encourage you to use these - and ask your local businesses to display the posters if they can. Flyers can be kept in your car and handed out as needed.
This is a community problem, and one we cannot solve alone. Help us to prevent more tragedies this summer by sharing this post.
On behalf of the animals - thank you ❤️
Worst Xmas ever?
There's a a lot of planning that goes into Christmas day and sometimes things just don't go to plan. But it can be a good thing - a family mishap or hilarious memory that you can laugh about in Christmases to come.
Whether you burnt the dinner or were stranded at an airport...
Share your Christmas mishaps below!
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