Kia Ora It has been a very busy time for the CPO Mental Health Team. The team is battling with staff illness currently leaving one staff member to triage your referrals over recent weeks. Please be aware there is currently at least a one-week waitlist, from time of receiving referral till we can contact your client to discuss their needs. It is very important that those requiring urgent intervention are referred to the appropriate support, such as the Crisis team, who can respond urgently. Our service is unable to provide support for people who already have counselling in place through ACC, or who are under the care of secondary services such as Community Mental Health. Given our level of resourcing we are struggling to meet demand for our service. Your assistance to ensure the people who most need our support are the ones referred, is most appreciated. The use of your HIPS and health coaches is recommended in the first instance. We are actively working with Te Whatu Ora regarding our level of resourcing There is support accessible through the Ministry for Social Development (MSD) for patients who are supported by MSD (Jobseekers etc.) or who have low income and would qualify for Disability support as outlined in the link below. https://www.workandincome.govt.nz/eligibility/health-and-disability/counselling.html Given the situation we face where demand is outstripping our resourcing, we request that you identify and work with your patients who are eligible for this support to access this funding wherever possible. Our information manual outlines that those who can access alternative funding such as MSD or ACC are not eligible for PHO funded counselling. Below is the form that is required to be completed for funding under Disability support. https://www.workandincome.govt.nz/eligibility/health-and-disability/counselling.html MSD also has a resource for counselling, anyone who is an MSD client on a Work and Income benefit can self-refer to; offering individual phone counselling, people can book session times to suit, with sessions offered from 9 am to 9 pm 7 days a week, multiple languages are available. We have had patients access and feedback their experiences of this service and to date it has been positive; People need to call the 0800 number at the bottom of the page, they are allocated a number to login to the site and choose their counsellor from the bio’s provided. Here is the link to this service https://whakarongorau.nz/puawaitanga
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