The 2023 New Zealand psychiatry of old age services and workforce survey

Copeland, Bronwyn
Barak, Yoram
Cheung, Gary

Mental Health Services for Older People, 637385Te Whatu Ora (Health New Zealand), Hauroa a Toi Bay of Plenty, Tauranga, New Zealand
Department of Psychological Medicine, School of Medicine, 37258University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
Department of Psychological Medicine, School of Medicine, 62710The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

Bronwyn Copeland, Mental Health Services for Older People, Te Whatu Ora (Health New Zealand), Hauroa a Toi Bay of Plenty, Tauranga 3143, New Zealand. Email: [email protected]

Gary Cheung, Department of Psychological Medicine, School of Medicine, The University of Auckland, Level 3, Building 507, 22-30 Park Avenue, Grafton, Auckland 1023, Auckland. Email: [email protected]

Australasian Psychiatry 31(4):p 480-484, August 2023. | DOI: 10.1177/10398562231180486

Objective

The primary objective was to survey the Psychiatry of Old Age (POA) service resources in New Zealand: number of psychiatrists, inpatient beds, and community psychogeriatric beds. A secondary objective was to compare the POA service resources reported by frontline clinicians with official government data.

Methods

The New Zealand Branch of Faculty of POA collected information from a POA representative in each of the 20 districts, along with official government data.

Results

Information from 17 services were obtained. POA service resources varied greatly between districts. There were discrepancies between the New Zealand Branch of Faculty of POA and official government data. The number of old age psychiatrist FTEs per 10,000 older adults ranged from 0.3 to 1.1 (mean = 0.7). The number of inpatient beds per 10,000 older adults ranged from 0.0 to 4.1 (mean = 1.6); and the number of psychogeriatric beds per 10,000 older adults ranged from 0.0 to 22.7 (mean = 12.6).

Conclusions

There is an urgent need to address the official government data discrepancies and POA service resource inequalities. This can ensure the “postcode” system that determines psychiatric care for older adults can be effectively eliminated. We also found the number of POA inpatient beds is below the internationally recommended level.