Whanganui crisis cafe in works as police pull back from mental health callouts

Whanganui support services are hoping community cohesion and a crisis cafe can fill the gap as police pull back from mental health callouts. The Government announced the changes last August, with phase one beginning three months later. That included police shortening the time taken to hand over people seeking mental health assessments at emergency departments (EDs) and mental health services completing comprehensive risk assessments before involving police in transportation.

Rana Te Huia, general manager of mental health and addiction service Balance Whanganui, said there had been concerns from families about the changes. “They’ve rung [Whanganui Hospital’s] mental health team and have been told to call the police..