‘One waka’ launched for 3DHB Mental Health

Also known as Te Upoko me te Whatu o Te Ika*, the launch started at the Ratonga Rua-o-Porirua mental health campus in Porirua with waiata and a blessing from kaumatua Kuni Shepherd and Taku Parai, representing local iwi Ngāti Toa. Following the team were welcomed to Hutt Valley DHB, and then with a powhiri at Wairarapa DHB.

The two Chief Executives, Graham Dyer (Wairarapa and Hutt Valley DHBs and Debbie Chin (Interim, CCDHB) said the Porirua campus was an appropriate place to start the welcome, as it was a site which has historically delivered mental health services to the wider Wellington region and the rest of the country. “This is about achieving more for our clients and the community, and it is the leadership and the commitment of the people in this room that will enable us to do that.”

Ann Connell, the new service’s director of Allied Health said that shared resources meant Wairarapa and Hutt Valley psychologists would now have access to Capital & Coast’s library of psychometric tests.

“Dealing with one service instead of three will be of particular benefit for clients who live across DHBs, such as those who work in Wellington but live in the Hutt Valley or Wairarapa”, she said.

Wairarapa service manager Andrew Curtis-Cody welcomed the combined service, which builds on many years of cooperation and collaboration between the DHBs. “Our model of care has for many years been community based, and we have a lot of experience we can share about working in a very integrated way with local health providers.”

“This is a great platform on which to stand,” he said. “The single service approach will improve our access to specialist services, and also support the upgrade of our IT infrastructure.”

A new model of care for mental health clients aged 0 – 25 could now be scoped, with one aim being to provide more educational and vocational support for young people transitioning between youth and adult mental health services.

Operations manager for the Younger Persons community mental health and addiction service John Zonnevylle said that “combining resources simply allows us to do more with more”.

Shared expertise, such as the strength Hutt staff had working with infants would also now benefit more people, he said.

3DHB Director of Mental Health Nursing Tony Dal Din says having three ceremonies feels like it is now all tied together.

“Several speakers referred to us being in ‘one waka’ and this will help us to think collectively,” he said.

“It’s been really nice to be welcomed in each place – and now the hard work really starts! It will take time to settle and learn all about the services, but everywhere I am hearing that this was the right approach to take, to get a more integrated service for the peoples of our region.”

*Te-Upoko-me-te-whatu-o-te-Ika translates as the ‘the eye and the head of the fish’ – a reference to the land that the combined service covers.

Wairarapa Kaumatua Mike Kawana clarified that the ‘eye’ refers to the Wairarapa lakes , and that Wairarapa will be keeping a close eye on how the ‘head and the mouth’ (Wellington/Porirua/Kapiti/Hutt Valley) are doing.

Below are listed the staff appointed to positions in the new structure