Lifeline Aotearoa is supportive of an independent review that has recognised the strength of its frontline work while highlighting the funding pressure behind its reduced hours and call answer rates.
Lifeline's Tautoko service is New Zealand's only dedicated suicide prevention crisis line. Pleasingly, Lifeline received an interim Health New Zealand funding contribution in July this year. For close to a decade before that, Presbyterian Support Northern (PSN), Lifeline's parent organisation, relied on public donations or covered the cost of running the service itself to the tune of between $25 to 28 million. The alternative was letting the phones go unanswered altogether.
The review, commissioned by the Minister for Mental Health and released yesterday, examined Whakarongorau Aotearoa, Youthline and Lifeline Aotearoa. It found genuine, functional clinical frameworks across all three providers, and recognised the strength of Lifeline's own frontline work.
PSN General Manager Social Services, Grenville Hendricks, said Lifeline welcomed the review's findings, noting that the funding gap exposes challenges.
“Every New Zealander experiencing distress should be able to access the right support, at the right time, from the right service. We share that goal and stand ready to help deliver it, as we prepare to recognise World Suicide Prevention Day tomorrow (Thursday 10 September),” Mr Hendricks said.
“The review describes Lifeline’s risk assessment approach as well-considered and consistently applied and calls our frontline practice culture ‘robust.’ Fewer than 1 in 100 calls to our helplines need to be escalated to emergency services, and last year our counsellors created almost 4,700 safety plans with people in crisis. That's a credit to our people.
“We support the review’s recommendations and remain committed to working with Health New Zealand, Whakarongorau Aotearoa, Youthline and other partners to strengthen the mental health and addiction telehealth system,” said Mr Hendricks.