MoHTuesday 29 September 2009, 4:17PM
Media release from Ministry of Health
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